Middle Ground
by Mars on Fire
Summary: Two-Bit's always liked to fight, and he has his hands full when he humiliates a Soc. With a new enemy bothering him, the fights and rivalry are jeopardizing his relationship with a girl at school, who'd rather he not fight at all.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** S.E. Hinton owns all rights to The Outsiders and the characters contained in its pages.

**A/N:** This story contains coarse language, descriptions of violence and mild sexual situations.

**Summary:** Two-Bit's always liked to fight, and he has his hands full when he humiliates a Soc. With a new enemy bothering him, the fights and rivalry are jeopardizing his relationship with a girl at school, who'd rather he not fight at all.

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**Middle Ground**

**Chapter 1**

_**Friday, April 15, 1966**_

School was just getting out for the weekend, and I was sittin' on the bumper of my car having a smoke when I saw her walk by.

The final bell had rung about five minutes ago – I'd skipped out of history since I hadn't done the homework and Miss Norris said next time I came to class without the assignment I was headed to detention. Miss Norris appreciates me and my wisecracks so much she sends me down to the principal on a regular basis. 'Course I usually take a detour out the side doors and avoid the lecture from Mr. Casing altogether. I can take a hacked off principal telling me to shut it and pay attention or else, but hearing him call me Keith over and over makes it feel like he ain't even talking to me, you know?

The girl was new, that much I'd guessed. She was looking around the school grounds like she had no idea how she'd ended up there. I'd never seen her before, and I make it my business to remember every good looking girl at school. I would've remembered her - she had the blondest hair I'd ever seen, and natural to boot from what I could tell. Now, I don't have a lot of weaknesses, but throw a good looking blonde in front of me and you got one.

I threw the cigarette butt away and looked around. The crowds were thinning out, everyone headed home or off to hunt some kind of action. I spotted Steve ambling toward the parking lot, Evie and Sandy in tow behind him. He spotted me and nodded.

"Where you headed?" I asked.

"Work," he grunted. "Soda wants me to pick up Pony on my way over."

Ordinarily Steve would pull a face at that, but we were all keeping an eye out since Johnny got jumped on Monday. He was in the worst shape I'd ever seen him in, and that was saying a lot. It takes a lot to rattle Johnny, seeing as he has it pretty bad at home, and if I ever found out who those Socs were that got him, there was gonna be hell to pay.

Steve took off with the girls and that left me to pay attention to the blonde. I figured I'd wait around, see where this cute young thing was going.

She was standing under the big sycamore tree that some senior Soc had driven into a few months back, leaving a gouge in the trunk a mile wide. She wasn't really our type, but she wasn't no Soc either. Easy to see that from the way those Soc girls were looking at her, like she boiled babies in her spare time or something. The Soc girls would pass her by, turn to each other and laugh in that way girls did where you knew they meant for you to know they were laughing at you. I could tell from the blonde's face they weren't saying anything nice, either.

It was probably her clothes. That was what had got my attention any how, even before that hair. She was wearing a skirt so short I couldn't believe any mother would let their daughter out of the house for school looking like that. She had long tanned legs I could look at for days. She had a nice blouse on though and her hair done up real nice and proper, which was probably the only reason the teachers hadn't sent her home.

She didn't wear a lot of make up, something that made me believe she was no greaser girl either. New girls in town were pretty much left to fend for themselves among the middle crowds – people no one would remember after graduation, except their own group of friends. Only those types of girls were passing her right by, too. I'll confess, it made me pretty curious. It's pretty hard not to find a group you fit into at Rogers, even if it's not the one you wanna be in.

It was a hot day, even for spring, the thermometer pushing eighty, and I figured she was at least cooler than everyone else, and maybe that would make the girls here pick up her fashion. I could only hope.

She had her books in her arms, looking around like she was waiting for someone. So I waited too, hoping that no muscle head boyfriend was on his way. After awhile she turned away from the school, her gaze rested on me a second before she looked down at the ground, turned and began to walk up the street like a sad puppy.

It only took me a second after running the comb through my hair to cross the lot and catch up with her.

"You waitin' on someone?" I asked.

She stopped and turned around, looking surprised that someone had talked to her.

"Oh, I was, but I guess they're not coming," she said quietly. "You don't know where Al's Discount Records is, do you?"

She was no Okie, I'll tell you that. Couldn't place the accent, but it wasn't local, that was for sure.

"Yeah, down on 11th, on the way downtown," I said. "It's a bit of a walk from here, and I wouldn't go it alone if I were you. Don't think you'd get jumped or nothing, being a girl and all, but I still wouldn't risk it."

"Oh," she answered, slightly disappointed. "Well, is there a bus?"

"Shoot, I got my car just over there, I'll give you a ride," I told her, flashing her a grin. She looked at me carefully – I can always tell when a girl is sizing me up like she was – then she smiled and nodded. We turned to walk back towards my Plymouth, and I'm not embarrassed to tell you I was praying real hard the old junker would start.

"Friends call me Two-Bit," I said, hoping to get her talking.

She raised an eyebrow, but she didn't say a word. Most of the time girls can't resist asking me what my real name is, and I hate telling them. But she didn't say a thing, and I kinda liked that.

"What's your handle?" I asked her.

"I'm Franny. Well, really Francine, but only my mother calls me that," she said with a smile. We reached my car, and I did the gallant thing and opened the door for her. I saw how well that paid off for Sodapop once when we picked up a couple girls on the way to a football game and hell if I wasn't gonna try it myself.

I cranked the key, and the car turned over right away. I gave a silent thank you to whoever's up there, and we sailed out of the parking lot and towards downtown.

"You're not from around here, are you?" I asked her.

"No, we just moved here over Easter break from California," she said.

"No kiddin'?" I said. "What's a genuine California girl doin' all the way out here anyway?"

I saw her look down at her shoes before she answered with a sigh. "My parents, they're getting a divorce. My mother grew up in Tulsa, so she moved us back here to be close to my grandmother. I don't quite know what to make of it yet."

"Well, I guess it ain't no California," I said easily. She was probably embarrassed about the divorce thing, and I kinda knew how she felt. It's not great telling people your old man ain't around. "Well, there's no surfing around here, and I'll bet you good money the Beach Boys won't ever sing a song about the girls in Tulsa."

She gave a small laugh. I think I'm doing pretty good if I can get people to laugh, and she looked like she needed it.

"Who were you waiting on, back at school?"

"Oh," she said. "A girl I started talking to in my English class. She told me all about the record store and said she'd take me there today, but she never showed up."

She was quiet for a minute as we drove on. I was taking the long way there on purpose, figurin' she wouldn't know that.

"I wish I knew what I'd done," she said quietly. "I changed schools once before when I moved, and people were strange at first, but they came around fast. I've been in school a week now and no one talks to me. Well, no one but you."

She looked over at me then and flashed me a quick smile.

I didn't know whether to say anything, but maybe she could use some advice.

"Probably your clothes," I said, glancing over at her again. Damn, she had nice legs. "Girls around here, well, only a certain kind might wear skirts that short. Most girls wouldn't, especially not to school."

I don't know what kind of idiot I am trying to talk her into wearing something different, but there you have it. My shining moment of stupidity.

"I'd noticed," she said with a sigh. "They're almost all I've got though. Plenty of respectable girls wear mini skirts, they're all the rage back in California. Every girl wears them."

She looked over at me when she said this, almost like she was trying to drive home that she was respectable. It was kind of cute. I pulled into a parking space right in front of the record store.

"Do they now?" I said, cocking an eyebrow at her. "Well, I guess I'll have to take a trip out to California then."

She smiled again, I got out of the car and she started to follow, and I just about wanted to sink through the ground when she couldn't get the door open. I came around to her side from the outside and tried the handle, but it's a tricky thing, so I had to go back inside the car to try and get it open.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "Thing sticks when it gets hot out."

I leaned across her to try the handle myself and damn if she didn't smell good. Not like cheap perfume and cigarettes like Kathy did, but just sweet. Sweet and soft, almost like baby powder. I lost my head for a second, sprawled across her lap, and it's a wonder she didn't box my ears.

The door handle suddenly gave a pop, and I pushed the door open, leaning back from her slowly. She looked over at me and smiled shyly, a blush in her cheeks. She got out of the car and shut the door.

I watched her walk to the record store and admired the rear view. Talking her out of wearing that. I don't know what the hell I was thinking.

XXXX

"If you've got something to do, you don't have to stay," she said, pushing open the door to the record store. The little bell tinkled at the top, and I knew Mr. Creighton was gonna curse himself to see me. I walk out with his merchandise on a regular basis. He knows it, I know it, but he hadn't caught me at it yet. It was a good game, but I don't think he liked playing.

"Shoot, I got nothing but time," I said.

"I'm sure I could find my way back," she answered. "You've been nice enough giving me a ride."

"I may as well stick around and see what kinds of records they got here. I'm still looking for a mint condition Elvis '_Johnny and Frankie_' album."

"You like Elvis? So does my older brother," she said. "He's just crazy about him, even grew his hair like his, but they shaved it all off when he joined the Marine Corps. I think that sent him into shell shock more than going to boot camp did."

"How many brothers you got?" I asked. It's never good when they have one, but more than one pretty much kills everything. Look at Angela Shepard – not that I would. Number one the girl is too young, number two she's crazy. But number three she's got Tim and Curly Shepard as brothers, and I don't know how Angela will ever manage to get a date with a resume like that.

"Just the one. He's in Vietnam," she said, pulling at the edge of her skirt like she was self conscious about it now. "It's just me and my little sister and mom now."

I could tell she was kind of sad, her voice got all quiet. So I did what I usually do, try to break the tension. I grabbed a couple records out of the sale bin and held them up on top of my head like ears.

"'Now it's time to say goodbye to all our company. M-I-C –'"

"'See you real soon!'" she finished with a smile.

"'K-E-Y!'"

"'Why? Because we like you!'" she said, having trouble getting the words out on account of the laughing she was doing.

"'M-O-U-'"

"Mathews, put those down!"

I looked over at the cash register, and Mr. Creighton was glaring at me like he wanted to jump over the counter and strangle me. I knew he wouldn't – three hundred pounds on a guy who's five and a half feet tall means he won't be jumping over anything anytime soon. But I put them down sheepishly anyway.

"Ruined the best part of the song, too," I said.

"I used to watch Mickey Mouse Club after school every day when I was a kid," she said.

"No kiddin', so did I. Still would if it was on, that Cheryl was a real looker," I said. She smirked at me a little and we walked past all the bins of records. "What is it you're lookin' for?"

"The Beach Boys, '_Shut Down Volume Two_,'" she answered. "It's the only one I don't have."

"Beach Boys, huh?"

"Oh, they're the ultimate!" she said, her face getting all animated. "Everyone back home listens to them." Her face got all sad again and I guessed she was thinking about home. I know I would if it had girls like her.

"Well, Tulsa's got a lot to offer too," I said.

"Like what?"

"Well, for one, a _Shut Down_ album," I said, picking the record out of the bin and handing it to her. I'll be damned if it wasn't just sitting there, like a present from heaven.

"Two-Bit, you're good luck, I can feel it," she said with a smile.

XXXX

We paid at the register – Mr. Creighton giving me the eye like I was gonna pull something right in front of him – and when we headed outside I could see it was still hot as Hades, the heat waves rising off the pavement.

"Could get a lightning storm," I said, looking at the sky.

"My mother told me storms out here are something else," she said, crossing her arms over the record in front her, protective-like. A blast of thunder echoed around, getting louder as it rumbled. It was weird, there wasn't a cloud in the sky to the north, but a thunderhead had rolled up south of us, and it was dark in the distance.

I was about to reply when I noticed some of Tulsa's favoured sons hanging outside the burger joint on the corner, leaning on a sweet GTO. I recognized them from school – hard not to since it was earlier in the week that I'd sort of assisted one of them in falling flat on his face in the school cafeteria while he was carrying a full tray of food. I couldn't help the fact his giant clown feet couldn't avoid my leg when it just stuck right out of its own accord. He probably would've tried to retaliate right there, but being covered in chili kind of cancelled that idea.

That and the assistant principal tossed me outside a second later and told me not to enter the cafeteria again 'til next week. Joke's on him though, I was only passing through. Greasers never eat in the cafeteria. Too many Socs.

Of course Mr. Chili spotted me and started walking over, trying to look menacing, which is hard to do in flood pants.

"I've got a score to settle with you, Mathews," he said, the heat already making sweat bead above his lip. He crossed in front of my car and stood on the sidewalk.

"Do you now?" I said, leaning back against my car, and putting my palms down on the hood. Pain from the hot metal seared through my hands, and I tried to remove them from the hood as best I could without looking like a pansy who burnt his hands on his own car.

Franny sidled up next to me, holding the paper bag with her record in it up to her chest and looking like a scared jack rabbit. She didn't look like the kind of girl that was used to seeing fights, so I had a choice to make. I decided to play it cool.

"No one humiliates me like that and gets away with it," he said. If I remembered right, his name was David Brubaker.

"I'm sorry your face is a humiliation, but you gotta learn to live with what God gave you, I guess," I said. "Don't be too hard on yourself."

Brubaker closed in on me, but Franny stepped between us. I kind of admired her guts.

"I really need to get home," she said to me.

"Stay out of this, honey," Brubaker told her, putting a hand on her shoulder and moving her back. He closed the gap between us and I moved away from the car so it wouldn't hamper me taking a swing. We moved into the middle of the sidewalk. Brubaker clenched a fist and looked ready to swing.

"Hey, stop that," she said, grabbing onto Brubaker's arm. "Leave us alone!"

"I said stay out of it!" He grabbed the record out of her arms and threw it down on the ground, then grabbed her by the upper arm to move her out of the way. That's when I stepped in - I felt like a shit I hadn't done it sooner, but he swiped the record from her too fast.

I grabbed his arm, squeezing down with all the power I had in my fingers.

"You get your hands off her or you'll be hurtin' in a minute," I said. He let loose the grip he had on Franny's arm, and she backed up quickly, her gaze darting from him to me.

I moved real quick and twisted Brubaker's arm behind him and pushed him into his friend. His friend promptly fell over into a trash next to the bus stop. He looked at me, then made a dash for the driver's side of the GTO across the street. Brubaker looked disgusted his friend bailed, but he got up and came charging at me, pushing me back against my own car. I heard Franny scream.

He took a swing at me and I ducked it easy, then his second punch glanced off my temple. I belted him in the stomach and once in the face before he had a chance to recover, then hammered a couple more hits to his midsection. He took off for the car a second later. A guy like that always runs when he doesn't have back up, and I've always been a decent fighter.

"This isn't over Mathews!" he had the nerve to yell as they started the GTO. I looked around - Creighton had probably called the cops.

"Come on," I said to Franny, taking her hand and pulling her toward the car.

"I mean it, Mathews!" Brubaker said as the car pulled a three-point turn on the busy street. "It's not over for you or your tramp girlfriend."

I felt pretty bad then, because I'd just cemented her fate as a greaser girl, and she didn't even know it.

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**A/N:** This story was originally posted back in 2006.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer** - S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders, and I'm just borrowing. No profit is made from this.

**A/N** - Thank you to everyone for all the reviews and advice. I'm hoping to slay the dragon that is this story summary at some point during the posting of this fic!

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XXXX

**Chapter 2**

_**Friday, April 15, 1966**_

I grabbed up her record and opened the passenger door of the car, and we were both inside a minute later. I didn't want to make out like I was hurrying in case it hadn't occurred to her the fuzz might show up.

"Sorry 'bout that," I mumbled, handing the broken record to her. A slash of lightning lit up the sky behind us.

"It's alright," she said quietly. "I guess I'll just have to keep an eye out for another one. Are you alright?"

"Me, I'm fine. Takes more than that to keep me down," I said. My head was smarting pretty bad though. "Where do you live?"

"Over on East Archer," she said.

I glanced over at her. She was breathing kind of fast, like she'd been the one getting the workout with Mr. Super Soc. Her hands were gripping the bag with the record in it so hard her knuckles were white.

"Have you been in a lot of fights?" she asked.

"I've been in some," I said, being real careful with my words. "Sorry if I scared you back there. Would've avoided it if I could but he was gonna try something no matter what."

"It's alright," she said, her voice still quiet. "I appreciated you standing up for me. I'm not really one for fights."

I wanted to warn her, tell her that it probably wouldn't be the last time she was gonna need standing up for, warn her that the girls in school wouldn't be getting any nicer, even if her skirt came down a few inches more and she buttoned her blouse clear up to heaven. But I just didn't have the heart to tell her, and she'd find out soon enough.

"That's my place on the corner," she said as we turned onto her street. It was a small bungalow, a bit more well kept than our place, but not flashy or nothing.

"Oh no," she said.

I looked over, following Franny's gaze, which was rested on a little girl sitting under the stoop on the porch. She looked about nine or ten, and stood up with her hands on her hips when she saw Franny in my car.

"I'm late," Franny said, looking at her watch. "I'm going to be in so much trouble when she blabs. I'd ask you in, but …"

"It's alright," I said, knowing she didn't mean it in a bad way, like she didn't want the likes of me in her house or something. It wasn't often I felt bad about things, but I was feeling pretty bad about the record and what she might be in for thanks to me. She was a decent kid and I kinda wished I'd never picked her up. I decided then and there to nip it all in the bud and ride off into the sunset. It'd be easier for her to get in with the middle crowd at school if I wasn't around making things impossible for her.

"Thanks, Two-Bit. I'll see you at school on Monday?" she asked, her voice kind of hopeful. Those big baby blues were staring right at me, and I lost my head for a second.

"How about we go out tomorrow night?"

I really don't know what the hell is wrong with me. One minute I'm planning to vanish out of her life like a bad dream and let her get on with fitting in where she belongs and the next I'm looking at her dish plate eyes, feeling like her only friend and suddenly asking her out. I gotta see a doctor or something, I think I've been hit in the head too many times.

She smiled back, bigger this time. "I'd like that."

"I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow night," I said, grinning in spite of myself. "I'll show you Tulsa's got more to offer than the likes of those rich goons."

XXXX

Most nights I end up at the Curtis house just as they're finishing dinner. I know Darry likes to have family dinners with Soda and Pony, so I try and stay outta the way, but I know if I don't get there soon after all the leftovers will be gone. Not that my mom can't cook, she makes a few mean dishes, but she works late most nights, and I'm not one for fooling around in the kitchen.

It was still kinda weird heading over to the Curtis place and not finding their folks around. Mrs. Curtis always had cakes or cookies made and she kept damn near the entire neighbourhood fed what with all our guys hanging around the house. They'd only been dead about four months or so, and I kept expecting to see Mrs. C when I walked in the kitchen. Wasn't really quite the same having Darry in the apron.

"Hey, Two-Bit," Pony said as I came inside and helped myself to a leg of fried chicken. "Where'd you get the bruise?"

"What bruise?" I asked.

"The one on your temple."

I touched the side of my head. I'd forgotten all about that.

"Oh … ran into a Soc I tripped up in the cafeteria last week," I said with a wink. "Just wait til next year kid, you'll have the opportunity to drown bags of walking money in food too."

I heard the door slam and turned around to see Steve there in yet another sleeveless shirt. I keep expecting to see a bum walking around Tulsa with a shopping bag full of sleeves, cuz Lord knows I don't have a clue what Steve does with 'em all.

"That was funny stuff," Steve said with a laugh. "Wish you'd all seen it, Two-Bit sticks his foot out and King Soc there doesn't even notice … face first on the floor into a bowl of steaming hot chilli. I thought I'd die laughing."

"Yeah, he caught up with me downtown at Al's Records," I said. "Don't think he was too happy with the thumping I gave him either, so keep your heads up."

"What happened with the blonde?" Steve asked.

"What?"

"The blonde chick you were watching in the parking lot at school. Man, she was wearing a short skirt!" Steve said with a laugh. "Nice view in my Geometry class, I'll tell you that."

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised Steve had noticed her – she did stick out like … well, like a girl in an ultra-short skirt would. But Steve has a habit of noticing things you don't really want him to notice. I was glad I'd beat everyone to asking her out, and I didn't want Steve getting any ideas. Girlfriend or not, he'd hit on her if given the chance. It was just his way.

"I'm takin' her out tomorrow night," I said.

"Alright, Two-Bit," Steve said, clapping me on the back and heading for the kitchen. "She looked real nervous for a junior. Doesn't look her age."

"Well, she's new in school, so I guess she is a bit nervous," I said, sitting down in the armchair near the door. "She's from California. I don't think this place is anything like what she was expecting."

"Where're you gonna take her?" Soda asked.

Sodapop brought up a good question. The Dingo would probably send her running all the way back to the coast, and Rusty's and The Way Out were way out since they were Soc hangouts.

Jay's might be alright, but it was likely to be crawling with younger kids who took that place over on the weekends like ants at a picnic. A night at the Tastee Freeze wasn't my thing either. Went in there once and never saw so many girls follow me around before – my sister wasn't too impressed with her friends neither.

"Me and Johnny are going over to the drive-in," Pony said.

That wasn't a bad idea, if the car would start. I'm sure they had drive-ins in California, so that wouldn't scare her much. A couple brews in the glove box and some popcorn and it had the makings of a pretty good night.

XXXX

_**Saturday, April 16, 1966**_

I spent Saturday morning recovering from a hangover courtesy of a party at Buck's, and Saturday afternoon I took the car down to the DX and had Steve take a look at it.

"It'll cost you 'bout ten bucks if you want that pump fixed," he said. "Could do it in an hour if you've got the money."

I'd won a few bucks in a poker game at Buck's the night before and hated the thought of parting with it. But Steve never charged me for his labour, and I didn't want that car giving out on me on the way to pick Franny up. So I ponied up the money and sat around while Steve worked his magic. I flirted with some of the girls that came down to see him and Soda – that place is always packed on the weekends – and when Steve was done, I washed and shined up the car. It looked pretty good for an old junker.

I clunked my way to the liquor store and got a couple six packs, then went home, had a shower and greased up my hair. Soda doesn't use much, just slicks the top back really, Dally doesn't touch the stuff and Johnny doesn't know much about stylin' his hair even though he's got more grease in there than most human beings. Steve was the big hair showboat around our crowd, but I like to think I stood out, too. Couldn't name one person that had sideburns like mine, let me tell you. Takes awhile to get my hair just right. They call it a ducktail, but man that's stupid. I ain't never seen a duck with better hair than me.

I stuck a few beer in the car under the seat and headed down to Franny's just before seven. It was another hot day, but the minute the sun dipped behind the trees a chill came out. It'd be a good night for fogging up the windows.

I was hoping I wouldn't get invited in. There's nothing I can't stand more than trying to play it straight for the parents. Usually one look at me would send the old man for the shotgun, but at least I didn't have to worry about that in this case.

As soon as I pulled up, I saw her come out of the house, and wouldn't you know she was wearing a skirt clear to her knees. It might sound bad, but I was kinda disappointed. She looked real Socy too, her hair pulled back off her face and a blouse and sweater on. She even had a little purse.

I was going to get out and get the door, but she beat me there and got in the passenger seat with a hello and a smile. I forgave her for the skirt when I smelled her perfume. Someone oughta tell Kathy that piles of cheap perfume and the smell of stale cigarettes aren't something they're gonna start bottling in Paris anytime soon.

"Thought we'd head over to the Nightly Double," I said. "You been?"

She smiled slightly at me. "I haven't been out since I got here."

"Shoot," I said, feeling guilty again. The only people she'd be going out with now were our kind. "Well, I don't know what they're playin', but it's probably some bad beach movie."

"I like beach movies," she said, picking at the hem of her skirt. Her legs probably didn't know what she'd done to them.

We drove down the Ribbon, past the Dingo, and of course I had to slow down, talk to a few people I knew. I hate admitting it, but I felt kinda self conscious having her in the car with me. A few guys I knew from Shepard's outfit were giving her the eye and sending me these looks I didn't quite like. Like vultures circling or something.

We got into the Double alright and I got a good spot, right down the middle. The movie was just starting, and we sat and watched for a few minutes until I broke the silence.

"You want some popcorn? A Coke or something?" I asked, fishing some change out of the seats.

"That'd be fine," she said with a smile. I pulled a beer out from under my seat and cracked it open, sticking it in a paper bag, and with a smile, I ambled out of the car and towards the concessions.

XXXX

Franny sat back against the worn seat. She shouldn't have been too surprised when Two-Bit pulled out that beer. Leather jackets, fights with other kids, and a complicated hairdo. Well, at least he came by it honestly. The boys back in Pasadena had looked like that alright, but it was more a costume than anything.

She rolled the window down to let in some night air. The days were awfully hot here, searing heat and no relief from an ocean breeze or anything, but it got chilly at night.

She watched as cars pulled up, most of them newer and shinier than Two-Bit's, driven by boys wearing button up shirts and chinos. They'd open the trunk and girls would climb out, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to sneak into the movies. She was relieved to see her skirt was the right length now. If fitting in meant putting away all those clothes her mother had slaved to make before moving here, well, then she'd do it.

She settled back into the seat more comfortably and smiled as she watched Sandra Dee and Cliff Robertson on screen. It was so nice to have someone that talked to her, took her out and made her feel that for a second she might actually fit in here. Maybe Tulsa wouldn't be so bad once she got used to it.

"Well, well, look who's here," came a sneering voice.

She looked out the window and saw the boy from the day before lean down and rest his arms on the door.

"Can I help you?" she asked coolly.

"Depends on where your boyfriend is," he said.

Franny felt butterflies in her stomach and gripped her purse a little tighter. She didn't like the look of him one bit.

"Cat got your tongue?" he asked laughing, like he'd said the funniest thing in the world. She turned her head away when she smelled the alcohol on his breath.

"Don't tell me you're flirting with that tramp?" another voice said. Franny looked out the window and saw a girl standing next to the boy, one hand on her hip, the other smoothing down her skirt.

"Oh, don't worry, she thinks she's too good to even talk to me," he said, backing up from the window.

"She came with Two-Bit Mathews, you can't expect her to have any manners," the girl said. "Especially not the way she was dressed at school. Gutter trash."

The girl looked down at Franny with contempt, her perfectly shellacked hair in place as the wind gently blew. Franny said nothing, hoping the girl would just go away.

"Doesn't matter how good you dress, you spend your time with trash, and we all know why. Hoods have always liked fast things."

Franny was too stunned to say anything. Trash? Fast? What had she ever done to these people?

The girl leaned down into the car. "You keep yourself away from my boyfriend. You'll find this can be a very unpleasant place when you don't."

The girl walked off towards a GTO a row in front of them. Franny set her purse on her lap, then looked back at the boy, who leaned his head in the car again. Before she could stop him, he grabbed her purse and jerked it through the open window. Franny quickly shifted over to the driver's seat and got out of the car, keeping her distance.

"You tell that loser boyfriend of yours he's got his coming," he said, tossing the contents of her purse on the ground before turning and walking away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** S.E. Hinton owns the Outsiders.

* * *

XXXX

_**Saturday, April 16, 1966**_

I was standing in the line at the concession when I saw Franny slip into the building. At first I thought she'd gotten restless because I hadn't come back fast enough with the popcorn. I guess it'd been awhile. Kinda hard to help it, I'd run into at least twenty guys I knew on the way to the concession, not to mention I had to duck in the john for awhile to avoid Kathy and a girlfriend, who were on their way out after the first feature.

Me and Kathy, we don't always see eye to eye, and we hadn't been seeing each other for a few weeks. That didn't mean she wouldn't have clawed Franny's eyes out though. Kathy's real territorial. I have to admit, I kind of like it sometimes.

Franny was walking kinda quick and looking back over her shoulder, and I should've thought something of it, but fact is, I didn't. Not 'til later on. She spotted me in line and hurried over.

"Sorry it's taking so long," I said, nodding at the line-up.

"Oh, that's alright," she said quickly, her voice kinda strained. "I just wanted to see if you needed any help."

Now, they're pretty good at giving you boxes for carrying all your stuff out to your car, but I figured she'd come all the way just to be polite, and I should be a gentleman about it.

"Well now, that's not a bad idea," I said, flashing her a grin. I was about to make a wiseass joke, but I heard someone call my name and turned to see Johnny and Ponyboy coming in the concession. I guess we were all on the right side of the law that day, since we'd all paid to get in.

"Hey, Two-Bit," Pony said, getting in the line behind us. Johnny hovered behind him, hands crammed in the pockets of his jeans. He still moved slowly on account of the beating he got earlier in the week. His face was still swollen real bad, and he had two black eyes. The cut down his face was healing, but it looked angry and red, even against his tanned skin.

His gaze darted from side to side, and I was guessing he felt a little nervous, what with the crowd inside and all. The drive-in was real popular with kids from the North and South sides, so there were plenty of Socs milling around. I guess Johnny'll be looking over his shoulder a lot until we get the guy who did that to him.

Johnny looked over at us and nodded his hello. I didn't count on getting two words out of Johnny, so a nod was good enough for me.

"Guys, this here is Franny," I said. "These are my friends Ponyboy and Johnny. They go to Cleveland Junior High."

"Nice to meet you," she said smiling. I saw the concern in her eyes when she looked at Johnny, and I was praying she wouldn't ask him what happened. He said a soft hello, which surprised the hell out of me. I can never tell if Johnny is just plain scared of girls or likes 'em so much he's too nervous to talk.

"You go to Rogers?" Pony asked.

She nodded. "I just started last week."

She tried to make small talk with us all in the line. Pony and Johnny were pretty quiet, but she didn't seem too bothered by it. Kathy asked me once if Johnny was a deaf-mute, and I think she was so offended by Pony's lack of chatter that was why she hardly talked to him nowadays. It didn't seem to bother Franny none, but then she was kinda quiet herself, so maybe the three of them had some kinda understanding about things like that.

We got our popcorn and wandered towards the outside seating for the folks that didn't drive in. Soda just about ran into us as we walked out of the doors.

"Hey Two-Bit," he said. "Who you got there?"

Soda's one charming guy, and I'll tell you there are times I'd like to pop him one because of it. I saw Franny smile as he said that, his voice just having something in it that makes girls, and just about anyone else for that matter, at ease with him.

"I'm Franny Collins," she said.

"Sodapop Curtis," he said. "And I'd love to chat, but if I don't bring some popcorn back for the girls they'll be fixin' to scratch my eyes out."

He loped off towards the concessions, and we kept walking. Pony and Johnny had chosen seats up in the front row on the left, and I spotted Steve on the right, sitting with Evie on our near side, Sandy a few rows back standing and talking with some girl friends. Steve brought his car, but half the time people ended up wandering all over the place talking to folks and not watching the movie.

"Franny, this is my buddy Steve, his girl Evie," I said, making the introductions all formal-like.

"Nice to meet you," Franny said smiling.

"You too," Steve said.

I spotted Evie's face and got a little worried. She has one of those looks that could kill you in your tracks.

"Tryin' to trade up in the world, Two-Bit?" she asked archly.

"Least I'm not tradin' down," I said easily, nodding over at Steve.

"Wouldn't have figured you for slumming," Evie said.

Franny looked like she'd been gut punched, and I admit it kinda caught me off-guard too, which is probably why it all went to hell. I didn't quite know what to say, and that's a rare thing. I had no idea why she'd be saying something like that to me.

"Excuse me?" Franny asked, her voice small, cracking a little.

"You ain't from around here, and you shoulda probably kept to yourself before coming on to everything on the North side," Evie said.

"Now Evie, come on," I said. "She ain't like that."

Evie could be catty with other girls, that was for sure, but I ain't never seen her be all out mean like she was, and her not even knowing Franny at all. I had a pretty good idea what it was really about, but I didn't want to say nothing. Steve was sitting there, sunk into the seat like he hadn't heard a word, and you better believe I was gonna cuff him one later.

"Come on, nothing," she said, lifting a perfectly plucked eyebrow. "You beat all, Two-Bit. If you know what's good for you, you'll just cut her loose now."

"Evie, stuff a sock in it," I said. "It ain't your business."

"She's not our kind. Princess just wants a bad boy is my guess," Evie said. "You should know better, Two-Bit."

I saw Franny's bottom lip trembling, and man I hate it when girls cry. But to her credit she didn't. She just gripped her purse like it was a life preserver and she was drowning.

"You're a spiteful witch," Franny said, her voice low and there was a lot of anger in it. "You can go to hell. All of you."

And then she spun around and marched right out of the drive-in.

XXXX

I reached over and cuffed Steve on the side of the head, and he shrugged at me and rolled his eyes towards Evie.

"Evie, you better learn to shut your mouth," I told her.

"You stepping out on Kathy is real low," Evie said.

"It ain't none of your business, but me an' Kathy ain't seeing each other," I said. I knew it wasn't nothing to do with Franny, and Evie sure did like to stick her nose in.

I glanced towards the concessions and saw Franny was already out the door. I fished around in my pocket for the car key.

"Johnny, you mind takin' the car home? It's up the middle," I said, tossing him the key and handing Pony my popcorn and drinks. Johnny didn't have a licence, but he'd get it to my place in one piece.

"Sure," he said, his eyes shining. "She sure was mad."

"Yeah, she sure was," I said. And I kind of liked it.

I made my way outside and saw her walking down across the lane that would meet up with the main road. Man, she was a fast walker. I had no idea how I was going to explain that Evie's jabs at Franny were jabs at me without working Kathy into the conversation.

I picked up my pace and when I was close enough, I called her name.

She turned around to look at me, then turned like she was gonna walk away, but decided against it. I jogged a bit to catch up.

"Look, I'm sorry about Evie, she runs her mouth," I said, trying to catch my breath.

"Seems to be the thing to do in this town," she said bitterly. The wind was kicking her hair up and I hate to say she looked pretty all riled up like that, but she did. Her eyes were blazing and her hair was whipping around and her cheeks were red. She made a real pretty picture in that dirt lane.

"I don't know what I did! I don't know what I did to deserve all this!" she said suddenly, her voice raised as she turned around and looked at me like I had the answer. "Not from that blonde girl from school, or her boyfriend that threatened you, or even your friends … what is_ wrong _with people here?"

"What girl?"

"Huh?" she asked.

"You said a blonde girl from school, what girl?" I asked her.

"I don't know her … don't even know her name! That's what makes this all so crazy. Her boyfriend – the boy from yesterday who stopped us outside the record store - he came up to the car when you were gone, and his girlfriend called me all sorts of things you can't imagine, and I don't even know her!" she said, shouting into the wind.

I kicked the dirt a little. "Oh, I can imagine pretty good. If it's who I think, that's Christine. You gotta understand, there's a lot goes on here that has nothing to do with you."

She was facing the fence and staring down at the long grass tangled in it.

"Nothing to do with me?" she asked, turning towards me again. She was pacing like a caged tiger. "Every damn person in this town seems to hate me, and I don't know why! I don't know what I did, and I don't know what's going on!"

I always wondered how the Soc/greaser thing looked to outsiders, and now I guess I knew.

"Franny…" I didn't even know what to say. "Those kids, the ones from yesterday? They got money, they got whatever they want, whenever they want it. They like to rub it in, make sure people like me and my friends know it and don't forget it. You probably got a good taste of what that's like, being told you're nothing."

"Rich kid syndrome," she said quietly. "Saw that back home."

"Well, not like here. The Socs are a different breed. They'd like nothin' better than to stomp us."

"Who's this us?"

"Greasers … people like me. People who ain't got a lot of money or fancy clothes. Not that I'd wanna be dressed like them, shoot I got more style than they do, hands down," I said with a smile. Anything to get her to stop yelling. "Greasers ain't got much … but what we got, we're proud of. Bugs the Socs good."

"And where do I fit in to all this? These Socs seem to hate me, your friend certainly does. I don't fit anywhere."

"No, you don't really," I said, slipping off my leather jacket. She was shaking, don't know from nerves or the wind, but she didn't make any motion to shrug the jacket off when I put it around her shoulders, so I figured she was done yelling at me. "You ain't a Soc, you ain't a greaser. I hate to tell you, but spending time with me ain't gonna do you any good. Socs at school, they'll peg you a greaser girl, just like tonight. Brubaker kind of hates my guts and it seems he's decided that means he hates anything I'm anywhere near. Some greasers … well, you don't much fit in with us, so they peg you a Soc, like Evie did."

I left out the point Evie had really been getting at.

"Isn't there any in between?" she asked wearily. "Where you can just be yourself?"

Well, that was a good question. I didn't really know how to tell her.

"Sure, there is. Most of the school's just plain regular folks. Problem is, I ain't one of them," I said, lighting a cigarette, the smoking blowing away quickly in the wind. "I don't know if there's a way for you to escape all this."

"So being seen with you …"

"Ordinarily it wouldn't be a problem, but Brubaker's making it one," I answered. "I knew it the minute we came outta that record store and he came over. Fact is, if I'd kept my distance, people would've warmed up to you because Brubaker and his cronies would've left you alone. You would've found your own crowd and none this would be bothering you. I should never have crossed that parking lot to talk to you."

She was quiet as we walked on. "You were the only one that did. I guess that says something about the people I want to be associated with."

She looped her arm into mine as we walked. It's hard not to do a victory dance when that happens.

"It ain't gonna be easy," I told her. I didn't think she got it, not really. "Socs will probably do their best to rattle you at school. Some of the greaser girls, Evie, her friends, they might give you a bad time too. Other kids probably won't come near you. It won't matter what you wear or how you look. Won't matter even if you decide to drop me like a hot potato."

"It'll be okay," she said with more conviction than I thought she could muster. "Just because some people don't like me doesn't mean I'm dropping you. If they don't like it … well … that's their problem."

She squeezed my arm as we walked and I smiled as the wind turned her hair into a bright blonde halo around her head. She slipped her arm down and took my hand as we walked. I'd have kissed her right there, but I got the feeling she still would've socked me one. Like I said before, I need to get my head looked at.

I was feeling pretty good about how the rest of the night might go until we cut down the alley and I saw a GTO at the other end.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer -** S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders. **  
**

* * *

****XXXX

**Chapter 4**

**_Saturday, April 16, 1966_  
**

Franny wasn't used to wind like this. Two-Bit's leather jacket was heavy, but not quite as heavy as her heart. She had never experienced people not liking her, calling her names, feeling like an outcast. She hadn't been one of the popular crowd back in California, the ones whose fathers ran the studios and worked glamorous jobs, but she was never treated like this. She didn't relish the idea of going to school on Monday, but at least Two-Bit would be there. One person in a sea of unfriendly faces would be enough. She flipped the collar of his jacket up to shelter her from the harsh wind.

She felt Two-Bit's posture stiffen as they entered the alley. She hadn't been scared walking through the dusty lane, even in the dark and alone. But when she looked down the dark alley at the car at the far end and she felt a shudder work its way up her spine.

"Just stay cool," Two-Bit said quietly, as if he'd read her mind. He let her hand go and walked a bit slower down the alley, his posture slouched, one hand with the thumb hitched in his belt loop, the other holding his cigarette. She saw the end glow in the darkness as he took a slow drag.

"Hey!" came the yell from the end of the alley. She saw three figures get out of the GTO and start walking towards them. She couldn't stop herself from shaking, this time not from the cold. She didn't like the way these boys looked.

"Well, look who's here, the welcome wagon," Two-Bit said, his voice overly cheerful. Franny looked over at him, his face harshly lit by the street lamp overhead. He had a friendly grin on his face, and an eyebrow cocked up like he was happy to see them.

"We've got a score to settle, Mathews," the tallest boy said, the one that had come up to her in the car.

"From what I can see, the fact you're an idiot is settled already," Two-Bit said with a grin. Franny groaned inwardly. He sure didn't go about things the easy way.

Another boy, short and stocky with buzzed brown hair, stepped forward into the light. His friend, a tall, wiry boy with dark hair backed him up. Buzz cut suddenly charged at them, and Two-Bit moved away from her swiftly, flicking his wrist. She saw the light glint off the shiny blade of a knife, and her breath caught in her throat.

"No!" she yelled out.

The tall boy - Brubaker, Two-Bit had called him - moved around to Two-Bit's side, while the buzz cut one stopped at the sight of Two-Bit's knife.

"Franny," Two-Bit said. His gaze didn't leave the boy in front of him.

She watched as the buzz cut boy stepped back a bit, then flicked out his own knife. She was shaking, Two-Bit's jacket no use against the chills she felt. She wanted to run, but felt paralysed with fear, not only for herself, but for Two-Bit.

She stepped back, away from them, afraid of what was going to happen. But before either boy made a move with their knives, Franny saw some motion out of the corner of her eye and as she turned to look, she saw Brubaker swing a two-by-four down on the back of Two-Bit's head.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, then turned and ran down the alley.

XXXX

Franny looked back only once as she reached the entrance to the alley and saw one of the boys kick Two-Bit in the midsection. She turned back to the lane and began running again, tears blinding her vision. This whole night was a horrible dream, it had to be.

She rounded a corner, hoping she was headed back towards the movie theatre and she'd find some help there, maybe Two-Bit's friends, but she ran into something akin to a brick wall instead.

"Man, out of jail not five hours and girls are already throwing themselves at me," a thick voice said in her ear. She heard lots of male laughter and hands closed around her upper arms. She tried to struggle out of the grip.

"Please, I need help," she said crying, looking up at the man she'd run into. She tried to step back a little, the look on his face scaring her, but he held her too tightly.

"I bet you do," he said roguishly. She twisted away until he only had one hand holding her. There were some other boys behind him, leaning against an old car, smoking and drinking, a couple of them watching her with interested eyes.

"Please, my friend's being beat up really bad," she said. Two-Bit could be dead by now, she had to get help.

"Not my problem," the guy said, loosening the grip on her arm and taking a long drag from his cigarette. His hair was even blonder than hers, and she dumbly wondered if her hair looked like his, glowing when the light hit it.

"Please, you have to!"

She tried to pry his hand from around her upper arm, and his other hand suddenly came down on hers.

"That's Two-Bit's jacket," he said accusingly, a handful of the leather jacket in his fist.

"Yes!" she said, relief flooding her body. "Please, you have to help him! They hit him over the head, he's just lying there! There's three of them."

The blond let go of her arm so suddenly she was thrown off balance.

"Why didn't you say it was Two-Bit in the first place?" he said, disgust in his voice.

He took off running down the alley, and she looked at the other boys, leaning against the car.

"Come on!" she said, wiping the tears away. She saw they weren't going to move, one boy with a scarred face looking at her with a smirk on his lips. "Oh, for goodness sake!"

She turned away from them and ran back down the dusty lane, towards the dark alley, her heart thumping in fear of what she'd find.

XXXX

Franny rounded the corner into the alley and spotted the towheaded boy throw one of Two-Bit's tormentors against the brick building, then turn and gut punch another. He flicked out a knife and took a swipe at another before all three ran into the GTO and took off out of the alley.

Franny began to run towards Two-Bit as the blond guy began throwing whatever he could find – rocks, hubcaps – down the street at the car.

"Two-Bit? Two-Bit? Oh, please don't be dead!" she said crying. She had never felt so hysterical in all her life. Her heart was beating so loud she could feel it in her ears.

The other boy came over, dropped down beside her and shook Two-Bit's shoulder. Two-Bit's face was covered in blood, but she couldn't see where it was coming from. She thought she might be sick looking at him. He moaned as his friend shook him.

She started crying harder as his eyes fluttered open, and she and Two-Bit's rescuer leaned over to look at him.

"Mmm," he mumbled. "This albino heaven or something?"

"Well, they didn't beat all the wise ass out of him," the blond said sarcastically.

"Two-Bit? Are you okay?" Franny cried. "Oh my God. We have to get him to a hospital."

"No hospital," the other guy said.

"But he's bleeding, he needs a doctor!" she said.

"I said no hospital," he repeated, looking over at her. "Who the hell are you anyway?"

"Franny Collins," she said dumbly.

"Franny …" Two-Bit mumbled, his eyes shut again. "I forgot. Run."

"I did run Two-Bit, I did," she said nervously. He still hadn't opened his eyes and the blood congealing on his face was threatening to make her sick.

"Help me get him up," the blond said. He hauled Two-Bit into a sitting position, and Franny blushed at the volley of cuss words that erupted from Two-Bit's mouth. She got one of his arms over her shoulder and stood up as best she could, the other boy practically yanking Two-Bit off the ground.

"Careful!" she said.

"Just shut up and do what I tell you," he said harshly. "We'll take him home."

"Dally?" Two-Bit said, his head rolling over to the left. He opened one eye and peered out at the blond. "When'd you get out?"

"This afternoon," Dally said impatiently. "Come on Two-Bit, use your legs, I ain't draggin' you back home, and Barbie doll over there sure ain't gonna haul your ass home."

XXXX

"He probably has a concussion," a girl's voice said. "He should be in a hospital."

"You'll be in one if you don't shut up. And stop crying, he ain't dead," a more familiar voice said.

Man. My head sure does hurt. I guess I'm not dead. I imagine I'd feel pretty good if I was.

Last I remember was hearing Franny scream - that girl's got a set of lungs. I thought back and remembered a GTO, and pretty much figured out what'd happened. I tried to concentrate on walking, but I realized they were mostly carrying me when my fit didn't hit the pavement but I managed to stay upright.

"Hey Dally, you get my knife?" I asked sleepily. I felt drunk even though I'd only managed to down the one beer that night. At least I remembered that.

"Yeah, got it in my back pocket, don't worry," Dallas said. "Who's the broad?"

"Far be it from me not to introduce my esteemed friends to each other," I said. I was feeling kind of funny.

"Two-Bit, cut it out," Franny chided.

"I would, but Dally's got my knife."

I thought that was pretty funny and laughed for awhile. I must've got hit pretty hard. Maybe it'll knock some sense into me or something.

"This is Franny," I said, opening one eye – the other one was kinda stuck closed – and looked over at Dally. "New at school."

"Must be, she looked too Socy to give you he time of day," he said, a little laugh at the end of it. "What's with the jumping?"

"I hate this place," came Franny's voice, angry again. Man, if she started yelling I felt like my brain would leak clear out of my head. "Hardly anyone talks to you, and if they do it's to insult you, and people go beating up on other people for no reason …"

"Get used to it," Dally said harshly.

"Aw hell, I've been hurt worse than this doing algebra," I said with a grin. Then I tasted blood - and damn, I think that tooth is loose, too. All over some chili. Well, more like chili all over someone. Didn't seem like a fair trade.

I saw outta my good eye – I'm assuming the other one wasn't lookin' so hot – that we were at my house. My mom wasn't home yet, and I was glad of that, she hates it when I get in fights. I was hoping my sister was asleep or at a friends or something. She's may be younger than me but she lectures something awful.

"Key's in my jacket," I said. "I wish I knew where that was …"

"I've got it," Franny said. I heard the door open, and a minute later I was lying on the couch.

"Thanks Dal," I said.

"No problem," he answered. "See ya tomorrow."

"He's just leaving?" Franny asked. "I really don't get this place."

"Dally's alright," I said. "Now I need to ask you for a favour."

XXXX

"Ow!" I yelped. Peroxide stings like a sonofabitch.

"Keep still," Franny said. "I need to get the dirt out of the cut."

She looked a little green around the gills, and I was a bit afraid she might up chuck all over me. I don't guess she was used to playing nurse.

"You sure you're up for this?" I asked.

She nodded, then I saw her eyes well up again. She didn't start bawling, but she did manage to swipe 'em off her cheek when they spilled over.

"I'm alright, y'know," I said.

"No, you're not," she whispered.

She filled in the gaps for me, namely the two-by-four that introduced itself to my head. I now have a pretty good appreciation for what Johnny goes through. I had a gash on the back of my head that Franny insisted needed stitches. My left eye was swollen shut and my bottom lip was getting fat, and I pretty much hurt all over. Not that I'd tell her that. She seemed nervous, and I could see her hands were shaking.

I was pretty sure I'd busted up some ribs too – she said they'd been kicking me. I wish I could say I did some damage of my own to those guys, but I guess I hit the ground pretty fast after Brubaker hit me. I'll have to remember to buy Dally a beer sometime.

I watched her out of my good eye, her hands darting toward me with the peroxide. Every so often things got fuzzy and her voice disappeared. I really took a walloping.

"Two-Bit, you really need a hospital," she said quietly, looking at the back of my head. I'd ruined one of my mom's towels already with all the blood. I guessed Franny was right, but I didn't want her to know it.

"Aw hell," I said, trying my best to smile. "This is just a little nick. I cut myself worse shaving."

"Then I guess you won't mind if I use the peroxide …"

I moved away as quickly as I could from that blasted tissue drenched in torture juice she was holding and saw the corners of her mouth twitch a little. The movement didn't do my head any favours. Shooting pains darted through my brain like electric shocks. I eased back onto the pillow.

"I guess you've got a sense of humour in there after all," I said, smiling as best I could. She smiled back, then her face got all serious again.

"Those boys would've killed you," she said. She was starting to shake again. "They really would've killed you."

"Nah, I was holdin' my own," I said.

"You were unconscious," she said.

"That was just me fakin' them out," I said easily. "I was just getting ready to jump up and take 'em all down when you two showed up."

She tried to hide her smile, but couldn't. On one hand, I liked that she thought I was funny. On the other hand, I did kind of look like a chump tonight. She got real serious again, and I was afraid she'd start to cry.

"How'd you find Dally anyway?" I asked.

"I was running for help, and I ran smack into him. He wasn't going to come and help you at all," she said, her voice a little bitter. "But he recognised your jacket."

"Well, I just let Dally help beat those guys off for his ego, you know."

"You joke about it all you want, but they were serious. You didn't even do anything to them and they practically killed you," she said. She was rubbing her upper arms with her hands, like she was cold or something.

"Do I look dead to you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "And ... I kinda started this whole mess anyway."

"You did?"

"Thursday in the cafeteria. Tripped the tall one, Brubaker, and he fell into his lunch," I said, trying not to laugh at the recollection. This was serious. Aw hell, I can't keep a straight face over that.

"Why?" she asked.

"Just happened. Can't explain it, out went my foot and down he went. Imagine Dave Brubaker wearing head to toe chili."

"You didn't even know him?"

"Well, now, I didn't say that," I said with a grin. "He may have been in a couple of my classes, and I may have heard him bragging about his new letterman jacket in the hallway before class, tryin' to play Mr. Big Shot."

"You know, I think you egg this rivalry on just as much as they do," she said softly.

"Only way to keep it fair," I said.

She was kneeling on the floor, leaning over me on the couch a little. I stared at her for a second. She really was a beauty, and there was something in her eyes I liked. I brought my hand up into her hair and pulled her slowly towards me – I was pretty sure she wouldn't sock me now – and when her lips were just inches from mine I heard the key in the door, and she jumped back and started collecting up the tissues. My mom has great timing.

"Oh, hello!" my mom said, coming in the house and setting her purse down.

Franny stood up quickly, like she'd been caught robbing a bank.

"Oh good Lord, Keith, what've you done?" she said, coming over to the couch and taking inventory.

"Me?" I said, cocking an eyebrow. "Shoot, and here I was expecting sympathy."

"You are always getting into the worst messes I've ever seen," she said severely. "Look at all this blood, Keith, you need stitches."

"I tried to tell him," Franny said weakly.

"You seem to have patched him up quite nicely, sweetheart," my mom said, always the polite one.

"This is Franny," I said, by way of introduction.

"You're not hurt, are you?" my mom said, looking at her with more concern than she was looking at me. Then again she's seen me pretty bad off before.

"No ma'am," Franny said.

"Oh, don't 'oh ma'am' me, it makes me feel a hundred years old, call me Dot," she said easily. Unfortunately Franny wasn't enough of a distraction for her and she turned back to me. "Now are you going to tell me what happened? Or is this like the time that street jumped up and smacked you in the face?"

"Kind of, only this time it was a tree," I said cheerfully. "Kinda small, two inches by four, I'd say."

"For heaven's sake," she sighed. "Tomorrow morning I'll drive you to the hospital."

"You don't have to drive me," I said. I swear, that woman knows the easiest ways to embarrass me.

"Oh, yes I do," she said, and I could swear her eyes were actually twinkling. "You've likely got quite a concussion, you're not getting behind the wheel of anything until you get checked out. It's a good thing your sister's over at a friend's house tonight or she'd be in hysterics seeing you like this."

I saw her looking over at her towel and mourning its loss.

"Oh no!" Franny said. She jumped up and looked over at the clock above the doorway to the kitchen. "I was supposed to be home by eleven thirty!"

It was just past midnight.

"Don't worry dear, I'll drive you home. Keith, you stay on that couch until I get back, I don't want you bleeding all over the house," she said, picking up her car keys.

"I'll see you at school Monday?" Franny asked, coming over to the couch and kneeling down.

"Oh yeah, I'll be right as rain by then," I answered easily.

Franny smiled at me, then leaned over and kissed my forehead shyly, then practically jumped up and flew out the door.

I could kill my mom for coming home so soon.

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**A/N:** I'm aiming to put out chapters more than once a week from now on. Thanks again for all the reviews!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** S.E. Hinton owns the Outsiders, I'm just playing around for fun.

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XXXX

**_Sunday, April 17, 1966_**

So his name was Keith.

She'd been incredibly curious since she'd met him, but hadn't worked up the courage to ask. She figured a guy with a nickname like Two-Bit probably had a first name that was embarrassing or funny, one he wouldn't want to share, so she'd stopped herself from asking. But Keith was a nice, solid name.

"I'm sure glad you're both alright," Mrs. Mathews – Dot – said to her. "He didn't even have to tell me, I knew it was those rich kids from the South side that did this. I've never seen anything like those boys for causing trouble. Now, I don't want you thinking Two-Bit's like that, but a man has to defend himself."

"Why does everyone call him Two-Bit?" she asked curiously. She glanced over at a house, a police car in front with the lights flashing. She wasn't looking forward to getting to her own house.

"Oh, you must've noticed he's always got to get his two bits in, that's why," she said with a laugh that Franny kind of liked. "I call him that myself sometimes. No doubt he egged those boys on tonight, too."

"These kids you're talking about," Franny said, "Two-Bit told me they might try to make trouble for me, because of him."

"Oh, I don't know," Dot said, speaking as if she was measuring her words. "I don't think they'd hurt you. But from all the stories I've heard, I wouldn't want to go near them. Some of the boys try and sneak in the bar I work at, I can't tell you the troubles we've had with some of them when they get to drinking. So vicious, it's a wonder their parents don't tan their hides."

Franny directed Dot to her house as best she could and started to bite her nails as they pulled up. She saw the whole house ablaze in lights and before she could get out of the car, her mother had flung the front door open and was coming down the stairs.

"Francine Collins, you are forty-five minutes late!" she said.

"Mom, I'm sorry, but – "

"No buts, in the house!"

"Mrs. Collins? Please don't be mad at your daughter on account of me!" came Dot's voice as she got out of the car. "This night's just been one big disaster, and you have my apologies."

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Dorothy Mathews, Keith's mother," she said, coming over to the sidewalk to shake hands. She barely came up to her mother's shoulder. "It's all my fault Franny's back so late."

"I don't understand," her mother said, some of the anger going out of her voice. Franny stood rooted to the ground, not entirely sure what was going on.

"Well, I tried to get off work as soon as Keith called me, but my boss is awful strict," she said. "I hurried over quick as I could to pick them up. Keith's car is just notoriously unreliable."

"His car?" her mother said, even more confused than Franny was.

"Oh Lordy yes, on the way home from the movie, cut out along the longest stretch of road there is with no phone on it. These two hiked some way to make it to that DX station, and it's lucky they had a dime for the phone," she said. "I think Keith was mighty embarrassed about the whole thing."

Franny looked at Dot Mathews in awe. She'd never heard so many lies come out of one small person before, and especially not an adult.

"We didn't mean for it to happen," Franny dumbly said.

"Well," her mother said. "As long as you're both alright."

"Well, Keith's a little wounded you know, pride and all, but he'll survive," his mother said, a hint of a joke in her voice as she'd said 'wounded'. Franny bit her lip to keep from smiling. Looks like Two-Bit wasn't the only one with a sense of humour in his family.

"I just hope you won't hold it against him," Dot said again. "I came right from work to take Franny home, and he's gone back to try and push the car to the DX. I need to run back and pick him up. I'm so sorry for all the trouble."

"It's no trouble," her mother said, her voice now completely thawed. "I should be thanking you for going to the trouble of picking them up. We don't have a car."

"Oh, it was my pleasure, Franny was a delight to meet. And I know Keith sends his apologies," her mother said. "I'd best be on my way. It was so nice to meet you…?"

"Alice. Alice Collins," her mother said. "And thank you again."

"You're so welcome," Dot said. "Oh Franny, don't forget your purse."

Franny opened the passenger door to lean in and get her purse. Dot had already slid into the driver's side.

"All's well that ends well," Dot said with a wink. "Sometimes the truth is a bit more than a mother can take. Don't you worry about Two-Bit, I'll make sure he gets those stitches."

"Thank you," Franny said, her voice still a bit awed. She grabbed her purse and shut the passenger door, watching Dot's tail lights disappear into the night as she pulled away from the curb. Franny slowly turned and walked up to the front porch behind her mother.

"Well, she seems much more sensible than I would've thought to have a son nicknamed Two-Bit," her mother said dryly.

XXXX

I woke up with a raging headache and the towel soaked through with so much blood you'd think I wouldn't have any left. My ribs felt like some fat guy had sat on 'em and judging from my sister's expression when she came home, my face didn't look that great either.

"If my friends saw you right now you'd never have to worry about any of 'em liking you," she said matter-of-factly, after lecturing me about egging on fights when I'm outnumbered. I had to admit it was pretty sensible as lectures go. I got through explaining to her that the other guys looked worse than I did, but I could tell she didn't believe me.

My mom was true to her word and drove me to the hospital after I woke up – I hate that place, it smells and the nurses are liable to call the cops on you when you walk in looking like I did, but since my mom was with me, they just stitched me up and gave me some painkillers.

The Curtis house was quiet when I walked in, the screen door slamming behind me. I found Pony in the kitchen making breakfast, and thank God for it, because Sodapop cooks some of the damndest things I've ever seen. I'm pretty used to cake for breakfast now, but it makes me a little green around the gills when he starts making food that's the wrong colour.

"What happened to you?" Pony asked as he caught a look at me. I hadn't seen myself yet and didn't quite want to judging from everyone's reaction.

"Got jumped by some Socs last night," I said easily, opening up the fridge and cracking open the best headache reliever I know – Mr. Budweiser. I tried to ignore the look Pony was giving me.

Soda came out of the bedroom, buttoning up a shirt. "Shoot Two-Bit, you look like hell. Dally said you got jumped good, I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it."

"Yeah, well they kinda snuck up on me and hit me from behind," I said. "Otherwise it would've been the other way around." This is gonna be one jumping that's hard to live down.

"Was Franny there? Did she get hurt?" Ponyboy asked.

"Nah, scared though. I don't think she's ever been witness to a fight like that, but she kept her cool," I told him. I meant it too. She may have been scared, but she kept her head alright, for a girl.

The front door slammed again and Steve walked in – another sleeveless shirt – and helped himself to a slice of cake. He looked me over and didn't say nothing for a minute.

"You look awful," he finally stated, his mouth stuffed full.

"Yeah, I got you to thank for it, too," I said, hitting him upside the head. "Where'd you get off lettin' Evie run her mouth like that?"

"I had to," Steve said morosely. "She heard me talkin' to Soda about Franny and how gorgeous her legs are in those short skirts – hey, why wasn't she wearin' one last night anyway?"

I smacked him again.

"I'd smack you myself, but you already look like hell," Steve said, a finger in my face. I pushed it away. "Anyway, Evie read me the riot act and threatened me with everything under the sun."

Ponyboy was laughing in the kitchen. He and Steve don't get along so great sometimes, and laughing at him wasn't gonna help Pony's case at all. But Soda joined in the laughter too.

"Never thought you'd let a chick boss you, especially Evie," Soda said with another laugh. "She's gotta be five foot two, tops. Afraid she might knock you out?"

"More like hold out," Steve said, shoving Soda's head from behind as he went into the kitchen for more cake. "She plays dirty with stuff like that. Anyhow, she told me she didn't wanna hear nothin' about Franny ever, and then there she is in front of her. Figured I'd better keep my mouth shut if I ever wanted Evie's clothes on my floor again."

I rolled my eyes, but then, I probably would've done the same. Not for Evie though. The girl's pretty and all, but she looks like she'd kill you afterwards. And maybe during.

"You gonna see that girl again, Two-Bit?" Soda asked me.

"If she wants to. I can't see her being all that interested in keeping things up with a guy who got clobbered in an alley," I said. "I sure know how to show the ladies a good time."

This ain't the first time I've been in a fight on a date, which I guess isn't a good track record. I had a run in with one of Shepard's guys, Carl Hamilton, a few months back when Kathy and I were out. Only difference is that time I came out on top, and Kathy jumped right in the middle of things trying to pry Carl off me and ended up with a black eye by accident. It was kinda nice to have a girl run screaming instead.

"You guys mind if I lay up here for a few hours?" I asked, switching the television on and easing myself into a chair. I gotta get healed up quick if I'm gonna even things up with King Soc.

As if he read my mind Steve sat down on the couch. "You need to get some guys together and go after these jokers?"

"Nah, not yet anyway. When I get my revenge, I want it to be good," I said, taking a long sip of the beer. "But you can do me a favour."

"What's that?" he asked.

"Keep an eye out on Franny," I said. "Until I can, at least. Something tells me this ain't over."

Steve nodded his agreement, and I let my mind drift as I sat in the chair, willing my body to heal faster. There was gonna be hell to pay for this, that much I knew. I only hoped Franny wouldn't get caught in the cross fire.

XXXX

_**Monday, April 18, 1966**_

Early Monday morning, Franny pushed open the door to the school. She took the side entrance, too afraid to go in the back way, which was the closest, since there were too many of what she assumed were the greasers hanging around out back, and the hollering they did at the few girls brave enough to walk that way made her blush.

The front door was out of the question too, since she'd seen the blonde from the drive-in sitting outside on a circular bench around a big tree, obviously waiting for her stupid boyfriend. So she'd ducked in a side entrance and avoided both sides altogether.

She was aware people were whispering about her as she walked in, some of the looks she got making her face feel hot. So what if her skirt was shorter than everyone else's? One day they'd be wearing them too and wondering how come she was so far ahead of them all fashion-wise. Anyway, she'd endured the looks all of last week, and she could stick it out until they got sick of paying attention to her.

She'd decided to wear the mini skirt out of pure rebellion. If these Socs didn't like her, then there was no way to make them to, skirt or no skirt. And her mother had gone to so much trouble to make them on their limited budget, trying to appease her about the move from Pasadena by making her some of the latest fashions. If her brother Gerald could march around the jungles of Vietnam, then she could march the halls of her high school.

She kept her eyes peeled for Two-Bit, but she hadn't seen his car in the parking lot. Maybe he was too sick to come. Maybe his concussion was so bad he was in the hospital. Maybe –

"Hey there, gorgeous," came the smooth voice. She could hear the laughter in it before she turned around.

She faced him with a smile, then winced a little as she saw Two-Bit's face. He looked ten times worse than he had Saturday night, the bruises now brightly colouring his face, and a dark line of stitches standing out in his slicked hair when he turned around to wave at a friend who'd walked by and called his name. His eye was still pretty swollen, and his lip was still fat, but he had a jovial smile on his face.

"Don't look so hot, huh?" he said ruefully, touching a hand to his chin and rubbing a little. She smiled again, trying not to look too shocked at his appearance.

"Well, it's a lot more colourful than the other night," she told him honestly. "Are you really okay?"

"Told you it wasn't nothin'," he said easily as they walked towards her locker. Somehow she wasn't surprised to find out he knew where it was. "Some stitches, and I'm good to go. No brain damage so I've been told, but the jury's still out."

She noticed he walked a little slow, and she glanced over at his midsection, wondering how bad the rest of his injuries were. They had kicked him awfully hard.

"Two cracked ribs," he said, a slow smile spreading over his face. "I won't be running any races for now, but it ain't gonna kill me."

Well, he was nothing if not observant, she thought, wondering how he'd figured out what she was thinking. She watched him lean back against the locker next to hers, then look down at her.

She felt herself blushing and suddenly couldn't think of anything worth saying. "I didn't think you'd be here today."

"Shoot, nothin' else to do but hang around my place, and the company ain't as good there," he said.

"I've never met anyone like you," she said suddenly, turning around and shutting her locker, holding her books close to her as she leaned against the locker. "All the boys I know back home would've been in the hospital crying blue murder, and sending the police after the boys that did it. You take it all like it's no big deal. I don't know whether you're brave or just plain stupid."

She bit her lip. She hadn't meant to sound so harsh. She admired his bravado, that was certain. But she didn't want him pretending all was fine for her sake.

"Things happen around here," he said easily, not taking exception to what she'd said. "Cops take one look at me and one look at the other guy, who do you think they're gonna believe?"

She looked up at him thoughtfully. He definitely didn't look like the upstanding citizen on the outside like those other boys did. But she'd learned something in the few days she'd known him –sometimes things looked very different on the outside than they really were.

She just wished he'd leave this whole business alone and forget about those boys. Maybe then they'd forget about him.

"Come on, I'll walk you to class," he said with a smile.

XXXX

She didn't share any classes with Two-Bit during the day, although she noticed his friend Steve was in her Geometry class and kept staring at her legs. She was pretty sure his girlfriend – Evie, she thought her name was – wasn't in the class, otherwise fireworks probably would've gone off by now.

When the final bell rung, she walked slowly back to her locker, watching all the students talking and laughing together. It would've been nice to have some girl friends, someone she could talk to like a real friend. Someone she could talk to about Two-Bit.

He was different from the boys back home, and that scared her. She'd known him for days and already he'd been in two fights. It made her sick thinking about what they'd done to him. She'd never seen a fight before, and it had scared her how vicious they were. Two-Bit was awful quick to flick out that switchblade, and that had scared her too. He looked like he knew how to use it.

His friend Johnny hadn't looked very good at the movies the other night, either. She had no idea how she'd cope living in a place where everyone beat up everyone else all the time. Sometimes, all she wanted to do was go home. She just wanted to be home, with Gerald back and her parents back together, even if they did fight all the time. At least that was just words.

She kept her eyes open for Two-Bit in the hall, but didn't see him. He'd said something about catching up with her later, and she figured he was the kind of guy that would probably find her rather than the other way around. She noticed he knew where her class was to walk her to it earlier, even though she'd never told him what it was. She didn't know how on earth a guy who'd only met her on Friday could know her schedule. Two-Bit had some talents, that was for sure.

As she approached her locker she saw Evie standing against one across the hall with a couple friends, filing her nails. The group quieted down as Franny approached, and as she passed, let out a peal of laughter. Franny held her books closer, trying not to think they were laughing at her. She froze in place as she looked over at her locker, her breath caught in her throat and the laughter of Evie and her friends echoing in her ears.

Scrawled on the door in blood red lipstick was the word 'whore'.

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**A/N:** Hmm, is Evie guilty? Who else could the culprit be?

So much for my updating more often - vacation got the better of me. Any comments regarding characterization etc are appreciated. Thanks for all the reviews so far.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders and the characters I'm borrowing here.

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XXXX

**Chapter 6**

_**Monday, April 18, 1966**_

There was nothing to wipe it off with. She had no tissues and her mother would kill her if she ruined her blouse and would demand to know what happened. She didn't even want to go near the locker, afraid that if she took a step it would shake loose all of the tears that she was valiantly trying to hold in.

"Hey Franny," came a male voice from behind her.

She turned and saw one of the boys that Two-Bit had introduced her to at the concession. Ponyboy, she remembered. It was hard to forget a name like that. She had no idea what he was doing here. Two-Bit had told her he went to a junior high.

"Come on," he said, pulling her arm to get her to walk down the hallway. She looked back at her locker and saw the other boy wiping the lipstick off her locker with the sleeve of his jacket.

"I … I need my things," she managed to say, finding her voice at last.

"We'll go back when everybody's cleared out," he said. They passed Evie and her friends, quiet now.

"Not much of a shock," Evie said quietly as they walked by.

"Takes one to know one, is that it?" Ponyboy said to her. Franny watched as Evie's eyes narrowed. "You better cut it out before Steve hears about all this."

"I didn't do it!" Evie said. "And you better not going making stuff up to tell Steve, kid."

Ponyboy didn't say another word as they began walking again, Johnny now on Franny's other side. They went out the side door and towards a small parking lot by the field.

"Thanks," Franny said miserably. "I felt like I couldn't move in there."

"Don't pay them no mind," Ponyboy told her. "We'll wait a few minutes, then go back in, and you can get your stuff. We came looking for Two-Bit."

"I haven't seen him since this morning," she said."Thank you. For helping me get out of there."

She put her books down on the grass and paced a little, her arms crossed in front of her.

"How're you gettin' home?" Johnny asked. Franny looked over at him, surprised he'd spoken. His face looked a little better than it had the other night, the bruises fading to green and yellow. She wondered if he'd been jumped by the same Soc boys. Maybe that's why Two-Bit had started up with this Dave Brubaker.

"I take the bus part way, then I walk, like always," she said.

"Shouldn't walk by yourself," Ponyboy said. "Especially not when it seems like someone has it out for you. I don't think anyone'd jump you or nothing, but they might try and bother you."

Franny sighed and sat down on a bench.

"You know her better than I do. Do you believe her?" Franny asked, looking up at Ponyboy.

Ponyboy sat down on the curb and lit a cigarette. "Yeah, I do. I don't think she did it. Evie's not that sneaky, she'd just say it to your face."

"Then it must've been the blonde from the drive-in," Franny sighed. "I don't know her name."

"Christine Weston, if you mean the one that goes with the guy hassling Two-Bit," Ponyboy said. "Her sister's in our grade."

"I just don't get all this."

"She's just tryin' to rattle you," Johnny said quietly.

"Well," Franny sighed, crossing her arms in front of her. "It's working."

XXXX

"Slow down, I think that's the GTO over there," I said as we crossed Pickett Street in Steve's car. It hurt too much to drive, so he'd given me a ride to school that day, and now we were on the hunt.

"If this is your idea of revenge, I'm telling you right now it's lousy," Steve said matter-of-factly.

"It ain't revenge," I said. "That's a dish best served cold. This is just a little after school fun."

Steve shrugged, turned down the back alley and pulled forward a little before cutting the engine. The GTO was parked on the side of the street, and I didn't see any sign of its knuckle dragging owner and friends.

"What are you in the mood for?" Steve asked. "Take out the windows?"

"Nah," I said. "Too many witnesses for broken glass. Might slash the tires though, but I want the hubcaps, so you're the man for the job."

Steve grinned as he grabbed a ratchet from the backseat. "Man those are some ugly hubs on a GTO. We're doin' this guy a favour, he can go out and buy some Rally wheels. I bet you anything it's used. Daddy ain't so rich maybe."

That was a funny thought. But Steve was right, damn ugly wheels – hubcaps, on a GTO. Well, there's no accounting for taste.

"You comin'?" he asked.

"Don't wanna slow you down if someone spots you," I said, sliding over to the driver's seat as Steve got out of the car. He's in his element gettin' ready for something like this. "He won't be able to pin it on me. This ain't the best part of town for the checker-shirted set anyhow, could be any old hood slashing his tires."

Steve smiled a little, and he looked down the street at the car.

"Take this and give the rear driver's side tire a little kiss for me," I said.

I handed him my black handled switch. I don't use it much, it's what you might call a showpiece – ten inches and sharp as Evie's tongue. I've got a regular old knife I use for most stuff, fights and things like that. I kind of like showin' off with the other one, and it seemed right to use it to bring Brubaker a little message.

As soon as Steve strolled down the block, I sat back in the car with a smile, then was startled by the passenger door opening. I was ready for something like the cops hauling me out of the car, or Brubaker and friends back for round two, but instead there was Kathy, her lips blood red, her hair in one of her trademark bouffants. She was puffing on a cigarette.

Kathy and I hadn't exactly broken up. We never do. But she'd been gettin' on my nerves and me on hers and we'd kinda not seen each other in a week or two, by mutual consent.

"You look a mess," she said, blowing the smoke into my face.

"I'd say that's like the pot callin' the kettle back, but it ain't gentleman-like," I said, raising an eyebrow at her. To her credit, she laughed and took another drag and proceeded to blow the smoke in my face again.

"Heard you got jumped good, I had to come see," she said. Kathy worked just down the street at a beauty salon. She's a year older than me and graduated last year. She looked me up and down, and I swear to God I felt like blushing. My rep's really gonna suffer from this jumping.

"So," she said, sliding over towards me from the passenger seat. "What're you doing? Saw you and Steve Randle circling the block a few times."

She stubbed her cigarette out in the ashtray and popped in a piece of gum. Kathy can crack gum like a gun fires bullets. One of the things that grates on my nerves the most.

"Steve's lifting some hubs," I said. I looked up the alley for him. Usually it took him under a minute to score all four, he should be back by now.

"Keepin' yourself busy?" Kathy said, looking up at me. She's got gorgeous blue eyes, I'll give her that. Like the ocean. Not that I'd seen it since I was a kid and went out of town with my family.

"Tryin'," I said, looking out at the street again for Steve. I sure didn't want to catch it for not backing him up if those Socs caught him at the car.

"We haven't seen each other in awhile," she said, her hand suddenly on my leg, slowly working its way higher. I looked over at her and she grinned at me a little.

"No, we haven't," I said. The memory of almost kissing Franny jumped into my head. I should've just gone ahead and done it anyway. I probably should've kissed her at her locker. Or, hell, I should've just waited for her after school.

"I miss you," Kathy said, leaning in to me, her breath hot on my neck. She wears too much perfume, but even still, it's familiar and it made me think of parked cars and fogged up windows.

Before I knew it I'd bent my head down and kissed her. I was thinking about Franny when I was doing it, and it made me feel bad. I couldn't help myself though. I kept wondering if Franny would kiss as aggressively as Kathy did. She had her hands around my shoulders in record time and in seconds we were lying across the front seat, and would've been well on our way to fogging up the windows if it hadn't been so damn hot for April.

I'd managed to get one hand under her shirt when Steve rapped on the window.

"You two wanna wrap this up?" came Steve's voice. "I'm standin' out here with four hub caps and a knife, and if those guys show up I'm pretty sure even they'd figure it out."

Kathy sat up with a wry smile and adjust her hair, smoothed her shirt down and all that. She looked over at me.

"Friday night?" she asked.

"We'll go driving," I said with a smile.

XXXX

_**Wednesday, April 20, 1966**_

I didn't wanna risk puttin' the hubs on my car – I may be almost eighteen and a junior in high school, but I ain't that stupid. Anyway, they were pretty ugly.

Steve hid them at his place, and I'd given him the okay to sell them to one of Shepard's boys. Don't think Brubaker would have the guts to go after any of them if he recognised the hubs.

People kept on givin' me hell about the jumping. I tell you, on the North side, people have long memories. They'd be talking about this one for years. I had a feeling Dally was enjoying telling the story.

I laid up most of Tuesday. I'd pulled a pretty good one on my teachers, who were now pretty sympathetic to me. "Take as long as you need for your homework, Keith." Yeah, long was about it.

"You goin' to school today?" Pony asked as I pulled up at his house Wednesday morning. "Think we could get a ride?"

If he was saying we, then Johnny was going with him. He wouldn't be eager to walk.

"I may as well grace the halls of Will Rogers," I said. "We'll have some fun when you guys get there in the fall. Man, it'll be nice to have more guys backing me up with them Socs.

"I have a feeling you're gonna need it," Pony said wryly.

My ribs were feeling better – I'm a fast healer, I gotta be with all the fighting – and the bruises were fading pretty quick. I'd thought for a few seconds about growing a beard to cover 'em or something, but that's just asking for more ribbing.

"Franny's a nice girl," Pony said as I tried to start up the engine. I never should've turned it off when I got to the Curtis place.

"Yeah, she is," I said, kinda distracted with the car.

"She was pretty upset Monday," Johnny said quietly.

"Monday?"

"We came looking for you after school," Pony said. "We got out early."

"What was she upset for?" I thought about Monday. I'd flirted with her, walked her to class … true enough I took off early to go with Steve, but I didn't think she'd be mad about that, but you never knew with girls.

"Some of the girls are hassling her, I guess," Pony said. "Me and Johnny walked her home. She was kinda jumpy."

Well, I'd warned her it wasn't going to be pretty, I guess she was figuring that out. Wasn't much I could do to step in seeing as it was the girls bothering her. She held it together pretty good that night out we had, and Soc girls aren't the type to jump anything but a football player. I guess that's why I was kinda ticked off Pony and Johnny had walked her home.

I shouldn't have been mad – hell, they were just doing what I'd asked of Steve, to look out for her, and that was a pretty decent thing of them. I just didn't want her thinking it was too decent.

"She talked about you the whole way," Pony said. Sometimes I swear that kid knows what I'm thinking. It's kind of creepy.

"Did she now?"

"You better believe it," Johnny said. "Never heard your name come up in conversation so much."

"And I ain't never heard you carry one on this long," I said, raising an eyebrow into the rear view mirror at Johnny, who grinned a little. Kid must've had a decent night at home.

So Franny was talking about me. Maybe that jumping did something for my rep after all.

XXXX

I didn't catch up with her until fifth period lunch. She was heading into the cafeteria, fishing around for some money in a change purse.

"Where're you headed?" I asked, stepping in front of her and pulling her out of the crowd headed into Soc territory.

"Lunch," she said with a smile, pointing up at the cafeteria sign.

"Come on, no one decent eats lunch in there," I said, slinging an arm around her shoulders and walking towards the back doors with her. I liked the way she cozied herself into me when I did it.

"I ate there all last week and the past two days," she said, raising an eyebrow at me. I notice people pick that up from me the more they hang around.

"Well, then you know the company's lousy and the food's even worse," I said. "We'll get you something decent to eat."

We passed Evie and a few of her cronies in hall, and I heard them whispering low. Evie gave me the snake eye, so I flipped her off. Don't think Franny even noticed, either that or she's a damn good actress. At least I didn't have to worry about her tagging along with Steve for lunch. She got sick of the crowd at the grocery store since Steve never paid any attention to her with all the guys rough housing around.

We ended up in the back parking lot, headed for my car.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Greasers don't much eat in the cafeteria," I told her. "You probably noticed Tulsa's snob crew run that place."

"But where are we going?" she asked, looking over her shoulder. Pony was right, she sure was jumpy.

"Little grocery store down the way," I told her. "Get something good, like a candy bar or some Pepsi's."

I drove down there pretty quick and pulled in next to Steve's car. Pony and Johnny were sitting on the bumper. The store's about midway between the high school and the junior high, and sometimes they liked to come and hang out with everyone.

"Hey Franny," Steve said with a nod. We all hung around near his car. Steve's got a decent one, a '61 Impala. Got towed out of a lake and no one claimed it, so Steve and Soda spent forever and a day getting it working again.

The store was a grease hang out, most everyone ends up there for a snack or just to read the magazines and hassle each other. It's a great place to catch up with what's going on with everyone. I just hoped that having Franny on my arm would be enough of a question to keep everyone from bringing up that jumping again.

She got a half decent reception from the guys hanging around the store – a few wolf whistles that made her blush, but I gotta say she deserved 'em. Franny kept watching all the girls, like she was expecting something bad to happen.

"Evie hassling you that much?" I asked her as we sat down at a picnic table someone had tossed in the alley beside the store.

"I think it's more that blonde girl – Christine Weston," Franny said.

Dave Brubaker's girlfriend. I should've known it. Shoot, between Evie and Christine, Franny probably wasn't having a very good go at school.

"Evie'll calm herself down once she sees you aren't after Steve, she's territorial like that," I told her. I was pretty sure I wasn't right about that, but I was hoping Kathy'd tell her back off since our chat the other day. Franny looked miserable as she ate a couple potato chips. "Something else'll come up and distract her real soon. As for Christine, I don't think you'll have to worry about her long."

"I'm just glad all the fighting is over," she said. "I hated seeing you hurt like that, it scared me to death."

Over? Woo boy, this chick sure didn't know the score yet.

"Yeah, well, I don't think Brubaker's gonna come after me right now, so you ain't got nothin' to worry about," I said. I didn't say nothing about me going after him though, and she didn't notice.

She smiled up at me a little – her eyes are as big as saucers – and I grinned down at her. What she wouldn't know wouldn't hurt her. I was pretty sure I could get revenge on those Socs without her even knowing about it.

"I never saw anything like the trouble you get into," she said with a smile. "I don't think I saw a single fight my entire time in Pasadena."

"Well, hopefully you won't see no more here either," I said. "How about we go out Friday night? Go grab some burgers somewhere, drive around or something?"

She smiled again, this time with her eyes too. "That'd be great."

* * *

**A/N:** Hmm. Someone get that boy a day planner!

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders, I'm just playing around. And no one with man parts is pregnant in this fic, so here's hoping she's cool with it lol.

XXXX

**Chapter 7**

_**Friday, April 22, 1966**_

Franny had sailed through school on Thursday and Friday on a bit of a high at the thought of going out with Two-Bit again. There was something interesting about him, a whiff of danger that was wrapped up in jokes and good humour. It didn't scare her like some of the other boys did – there were some around school that she couldn't even look at without shuddering, like the dark haired boy whose locker was near hers and who always seemed to be leering at her when she walked by.

She hurried home Friday afternoon, mindful of who else was on the street. It was kind of far from school to her house, so she took the bus part way and walked the rest alone since she had no one to walk with. Ponyboy and Johnny had walked her that one day – they were awfully nice boys – but since then she'd gone home alone and hadn't been bothered by anyone.

Since Two-Bit had been hurt, she expected even more harassment, but aside from the comment on her locker, there hadn't been anything. Evie was slowly losing interest in being catty to her, and she didn't even see Christine around school most of them time, since she was becoming an expert at avoiding the "Soc" areas of the school.

When she got home Lindy was outside on the porch waiting for her like always.

"You're late," Lindy said.

"The bus was late, not me," I told her.

"You promised we'd play dolls together."

"Oh, Lindy I can't, I'm going out tonight," she said. Lindy stuck out her bottom lip and stomped toward the front door.

"I'll tell you what, you can help me pick something to wear," Franny said, in a good mood and willing to humour her younger sister. Lindy skipped through the doorway into the house, down the hall, then into the bedroom they shared at the back of the house. It was a tight fit, and Franny had been desolate at the idea of sharing a room with a ten-year-old.

With an outfit picked and dinner started, Franny took to daydreaming as she did up the dishes with her mother. The roast chicken smelled good, but she didn't want to spoil her appetite for wherever Two-Bit would take her.

"Is this boy going to come in and meet me this time?" her mother asked. "You ran out of here so fast last time."

"If you'd like him to, he will," she said, faltering a little. She couldn't really picture Two-Bit talking with her mother. Her mother was strict, especially since the divorce. She wasn't sure her mother would let her keep seeing Two-Bit when she saw him.

"Good, I'd like to meet him," her mother said. "You'll be home by eleven-thirty?"

"Oh, mother," Franny sighed. "This isn't Pasadena, not everything's so close by like it was. Things are pretty spread out, and eleven-thirty seems way too early. All the other girls stay out later."

"All the other girls weren't late last weekend," her mother reminded. "Car breaking down or not."

Franny sulked a little until she heard the horn honk.

"Well, go on and ask him to come in," her mother said, hanging the dish towel up.

XXXX

"What's shakin' darlin'," I asked as Franny approached the car, looking a bit like she was headed to the gallows.

"My mother wants to meet you," she said weakly.

Woo boy.

"Well now," I said thoughtfully. "Let me go change into my superhero costume, and I'll meet you inside."

Franny grinned back at me. "Please? She probably won't let me go otherwise."

I hated the parent thing. It would've been a lot worse if her father was around, but he ain't, so that counted in my favour. The leather jacket, the cigarette hanging outta my mouth and the beat up cowboy boots – not to mention the greasy hair – probably counted against me. My face looked a bit better, but you could still see the bruises. I got rid of the cancer stick and chewed on some gum, then tucked my shirt tail in on the way up the stairs. I had a feeling like Daniel walking into the lion's den.

"Mother, this is Keith Mathews," Franny said. "This is my mother, Mrs. Collins."

"Please to meet you," I said, wondering how Franny had learned my first name. Her mother shook my hand coolly, and I started wishing for the old man with the shotgun. I'm at least familiar with that.

"Please have a seat," she said. "Your mother explained what happened last weekend."

"About the car breaking down," Franny said quickly - a little too quickly. I guess she doesn't lie much.

"Yeah, I was real embarrassed about that," I said, looking down at the carpet and trying to be all shy. "Luckily my mom could come out and pick Franny up, I spent half the night pushing that darn car to the DX."

Franny was looking at me like I had two heads. My mom and I talk. We've had to get our stories straight more than a few times.

"I expect you've had it fixed, and Francine will be home before eleven-thirty?"

"Yes ma'am," I said, suddenly feeling like I was in court or something. I coughed a little. Man, my throat was dry.

"Your given name is Keith?" her mother asked.

"Yes, ma'am," I said.

"You don't like it?"

Oh good Lord, I was gonna die here.

"I don't mind it too bad, but everyone's called me by my nickname so long it feels like my given name," I said easily. It's the truth too.

Her mother was sitting rigidly in the chair across from me, and all she needed was a gun and badge and it'd feel just like I was down at the precinct.

"What happened to your face?"

This was gonna be the hardest to side step.

"Well, it was pretty rough," I said, watching Franny's eyes get round. "See, all the real jocks at school are in my gym class. We had a real tough go of it this week, tackle football."

"In gym class?"

"Yes, ma'am," I said, getting into the spirit. "Now, I didn't go out for the team or anything, but I'm pretty good with the ball. I took a real thumping on that field after I caught that touchdown. Got tackled pretty bad and busted my ribs, hit the ground pretty hard too. 'Course, I only did it to win us the game. I was kinda like a hero after that."

She was looking at me skeptically, but the story tracked. I just had to watch not to derail the train.

"Oh yeah," I said easily. "I mean, all week they've been bugging me to go out for the team in the fall. Head football player told me they could use a running back with my style and finesse. I guess I take a tackle better than anyone on the team. I might go for it too. I could do with a scholarship to college."

She raised an eyebrow at me. Yep, train off the tracks. I never know when to quit.

Mercifully, she didn't keep up questioning me about my face.

"Where are the two of you headed tonight?" her mother asked, changing tacks.

"Over to a hamburger stand 'round the way for some eats, and likely a movie afterwards," I said. It was really hot in that living room.

"Do you smoke? Drink?" her mother asked.

Franny looked like she was about to sink through the carpet.

"Well, I admit I do smoke – a bad habit, sure," I said, letting out a breath of air. I guess that gum didn't work much. "But I don't drink. I'm allergic."

"Allergic?" her mother asked, her nose wrinkled up. It was kinda eerie, Franny does the same thing. Speaking of Franny, she was looking at me like I'd grown horns, and I guess I had.

"Yeah, I'm allergic to hops," I said with a slow grin. I could see Franny rolling her eyes behind her mom. "I tried a beer once, I was sixteen and I darn near died from the allergic reaction. Just like that time I ate barley soup. I swelled up, just like a balloon, and was all choking, my face turned purple they tell me, and after the ambulance came – "

"We should get going!" Franny said, jumping up. "I'm about starved for a malted."

"I'm allergic to malt too," I said. I was about to continue on with a bullshit story, but Franny gave me a look. I winked at her and stood up.

Her mother got up slowly, giving me the eye – I think she suspected I was full of horse shit. But she didn't say nothing and we were out the front door soon enough.

"Eleven-thirty," her mother said, in a voice that would've scared me straight if I wasn't such a hood already.

Franny nodded and smiled as we walked to the car. I did the gentleman thing and opened her door, seeing as her mother was still watching. I got in, the car turned over right away on threat of being taken to the junk yard if she didn't, and we pulled away from the curb and Franny let out a breath.

"Two-Bit Mathews, if you weren't still hurting from last weekend I'd beat your head in myself!" she said, her voice mock-angry. I turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"I think she liked me," I said with a grin. "Even though I think she knows I'm full of it."

"Well, that makes two of us then," Franny said with a laugh.

XXXX

Franny seemed to be in a good mood as we cruised along to the Dingo. It's right above where the Ribbon starts on the North side. We talked about school and made fun of the Socs a bit, then pulled into the lot. It's always pretty crowded in the drive-in, and people hang out there more than they eat. I ordered a malted and hamburger for Franny and a cheeseburger and Coke for myself, and we sat on the hood of the car to eat and watch the comings and goings before we decided to wander around a bit.

It was a bit of a rough crowd – a lot of Shepard's boys were around, and plenty of 'em were giving Franny the eye. So I slung an arm around her as we walked, and I introduced her around. She seemed a little shy at first, but I couldn't blame her seeing who she was meeting.

I spent a little time entertaining – I always do in a crowd – and was glad to see her laughing a bit. She still looked as nervous as a cat, but at least she was smiling.

"Come on, let's get going," I said, jumping off the hood of Dale Barnes's car and slinging my arm around her shoulders again. "Hey Dale?"

"What?" he called out to my back as I was walking away.

I held up a wallet. "Forgot your wallet."

"Very funny, Two-Bit," came the reply. I tossed it behind me.

"You picked his pocket?" Franny asked with a laugh.

"I'll never tell."

"Hey Two-Bit!"

I turned around to see Steve and Soda on their way over, and I could tell Franny was a little nervous looking around for Evie. I was starting to think the Dingo had been a bad idea. It didn't help that Curly Shepard got in a fight with some kid from the east part of town a second later, flipping out his switch and cussing the kid out. Franny turned away pretty quick.

"Does everybody always get in fights here?" Franny asked. "Seems all anyone does."

"Yeah, well Curly Shepard ain't got a lot of brain cells," I said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"What're you two juvenile delinquents up to?" Soda asked good-naturedly.

"We were just discussing our plans for a string of bank robberies," Franny said with a smile.

"Figures, with a crowd like this," Soda said with a smile.

"No dates for you two?" I asked the guys. "Did Tulsa's fairer sex finally wake up and smell the coffee?"

"We're meetin' Sandy and Evie here and getting something to eat before we head over to the Double," Soda said. "Dally might come with Sylvia. You guys wanna join us?"

I didn't even have to look at Franny to guess the answer to that one, and Steve piped up before I got a chance.

"Evie wouldn't take a shine to that idea," Steve said.

"Right," Soda said with a laugh. We all still thought it was pretty funny how he was giving in to Evie so easy.

"She's got it out for me," Franny said simply.

"Ain't really you," Steve said, lighting a cigarette. "She's kinda mad at me."

He and Soda started walking towards the building.

"What for?" Franny called to him as they walked away.

"Little too complimentary about them skirts you wear," Steve said, throwing his grin at me rather than her. I heard Franny expel a short breathy laugh as the two Casanovas walked away.

"Hmm," Franny said, looking up at me slyly. "At least someone has some admiration for my outfit."

"I admire it just fine ... admire what those skirts let show a little more," I said with a raised eyebrow. We got in the car and started back out onto the road, and I spotted Evie in my rear view mirror, standing with her jaw open and hands on her hips, watching the car disappear.

That couldn't be good.

XXXX

"I thought we'd head up to one of the lakes around here," I told her as we drove. "Figured the drive-in was out of the question."

"I hope that's okay," Franny said. "I just don't want to run into her again just when she seems to be forgetting about me."

I had my doubts about that, but kept quiet.

"It's fine with me. We really haven't had much time alone, what with me gettin' clobbered and all," I said with a grin.

"You look much better," she said, looking over at me as I drove. "Does it still hurt?"

"Ribs are kinda sore, but the rest of me's okay, save my pride," I answered. "Headaches are going away, too."

I switched on the radio, and they were playing Elvis's 'Kiss Me Quick'. I could only hope. I drove up to Recreation Lake. There's a few little trails that weave into the trees, just big enough for a car if you know where to look.

"It's pretty out here," she said, gazing at the lake. I'd never really noticed before, but I guess it kind of was.

The sky was dark now, and I managed to find a nice place to park in the trees, the water visible in the gaps. 'Course, I wasn't parking there for the scenery.

"You look real pretty tonight," I said. She blushed a little and said a soft thank you as I reached over to the glove box and took out a bottle of Bud. I always have an emergency reserve.

"So much for your allergy to hops," she said with a smile. "I couldn't believe you, I thought for sure you'd say something so crazy my mother would send you packing."

"Looked like she was about to at the end there," I said with a laugh. I drained about half the bottle, then set it on dash and stretched an arm over around her shoulders. The radio was playing Elvis nice and slow. She looked nervous, twisting a lock of hair around in her fingers.

"You got a place like this in Pasadena?" I asked her.

"You mean a makeout spot?" she asked with a smile. "Of course."

"You ever go there?" I asked.

"If you're asking me if I ever had a boyfriend back in Pasadena, then the answer is yes," she said smiling. "I'm seventeen, Two-Bit. I'm not a kid."

Sassy again. I love that. I wanted to kiss her, but it just didn't feel quite right yet.

"Were you popular back in your old school?" I asked her suddenly.

She looked a bit surprised at the question herself.

"I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I had a group of friends, some of them were popular, I'd say. But I was kind of quiet. I don't know. I guess I was somewhere in the middle."

"Not like here," I said. I had my hand on the back of her neck, my fingers playing around in her hair. It was soft and it smelled a little like apples.

"Not like here," she repeated softly. She was looking up at me now, her eyes shielded by the longest lashes I'd ever seen. I took a tendril of hair off her cheek and pulled her to me. Her lips were soft and tasted like chocolate malt. I kissed her slowly, feeling her hands snake around my shoulders. She leaned into me, and I lost track of time a little bit.

When the kiss ended she looked up at me and smiled.

"Took you long enough," she said.

I set out showing her I wasn't that slow.

* * *

**A/N:** So, what kind of bee does Evie have up her butt now? And things have been awfully quiet with the Socs, haven't they?


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders.

* * *

XXXX

**Chapter 8**

_**Monday, April 25, 1966**_

Franny was in a good mood Monday morning. Her date with Two-Bit had gone well – so well, in fact, she'd almost been late getting home. She figured Two-Bit broke just about every land speed record there was to get her home in time.

She'd seen him briefly on Saturday when she'd taken Lindy over to the Tastee-Freez. They talked in the parking lot until Lindy had bothered her about getting to the park.

She hadn't been hassled once by anyone, and as she headed to the cafeteria – Two-Bit was right about the food and company, but a girl had to eat – she smiled to herself as she counted out her change.

"You're in a whole world of trouble," a female voice said.

She turned around to see Evie standing there, and before she could reply, the girl had grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the line.

"Get your hands off of me!" Franny said, pulling her arm away. It seemed like all anyone ever did around here was grab you and haul you off places.

"I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to go parking with Two-Bit at the lake," Evie said. "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into."

Franny turned around, determined to ignore the girl, but Evie had longer legs and managed to get in front of her again.

"What do you want?" Franny asked.

"You to stop seeing Two-Bit," Evie said.

"It's none of your business who I do and don't see," Franny said, getting angry. She had no idea when it became Evie's business or why this girl would care. This city and everyone in it was crazy.

"It is my business when it involves my friends. I'm trying to help you out," Evie said. "I thought you'd smarten up with that little locker message, but I guess not."

"You did that?" Franny asked, her voice hard. Pony had been so sure it wasn't her.

"I didn't say I did it, did I?" Evie said, pointing her finger at her. "The whole school will think it's the truth soon enough if you keep things up."

"They'll all know it's lies, no one even knows me," Franny said.

"Well, they'll all know you went up to the lake to park with Two-Bit," Evie said, stepping closer.

"Everyone parks," Franny said. She narrowed her eyes at Evie and stepped closer to her. "And we didn't go all the way, not that it's your business. But I'm sure you'd park in a dark alley for that. Are you afraid Steve goes elsewhere?"

Evie's mouth hung open for a second, then she snapped it shut, looking like she was trying to keep control of herself.

"Look, it doesn't matter what you did or didn't do, don't you get it? People saw you and people are talking about it, making it sound way worse than it was. Now, if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from Two-Bit, you hear me? I know you think I'm trying to spoil your fun, but I'm trying to warn you so all hell doesn't break loose. I'm doing you a favour."

Evie turned and stalked down the hallway, while Franny leaned back against a locker. She let out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. Just when she thought everything was getting back to normal, a brand new problem crept up on her. And this one seemed a lot bigger than Evie let on, because there was no way the girl could've known where she and Two-Bit had gone unless she'd followed them.

XXXX

I hung around after school waiting for Franny on Monday.

I'd been feeling pretty good since our date, and getting to second base does wonders for your mood, let me tell you.

I spotted her a bit after the bell rang, stalking out of the side door and then heading over towards me and my car in the side parking lot. She smiled tightly at me, and I kissed her to try and make those little frown lines go away. The hollering from some of Shepard's guys probably didn't help my cause.

"Nice score, Two-Bit," Ray Roth yelled from across the lot.

I flipped him off. "You're just mad the only date you can get is with your right hand."

I opened the car door for Franny and she got in, and I swear she was biting her lip to keep from laughing. Ray looked a little ticked off, but he shut up good.

"Sorry 'bout that," I said. "He's a numbskull."

"Or maybe he's run into Evie already," Franny said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"She stopped me in the hall. She kept telling me I was in trouble and people were going to think I was fast," Franny with a sigh. "She told me to stop seeing you."

"What the hell for?" I asked, worried about the answer.

"That's what I asked, told her it was none of her business, and she said her friends were her business," Franny trailed off. "She said people saw us."

"She did, huh?" I said flatly.

"Two-Bit, she knew we were at the lake. How?" Franny asked.

How _did_ she know? She'd seen me drive out of the Dingo with Franny, with no idea where we were headed ... unless she'd followed us.

"Come on."

I started the car up and tore outta the lot so fast my car must've thought it was on fire or something. I pulled up the DX in record time. Steve was just getting out of his own car.

"Wait here," I told Franny, getting out of the car and walking over to Steve.

He looked over at me and glanced at my car.

"What's up?"

"Did you tell Evie I went parking with Franny?"

"No," Steve said, looking at me like I'd lost my mind. "She doesn't wanna hear a thing about her, remember?"

I heard my car door shut, and Franny was making her way over.

"What's going on?" Steve asked.

"Evie told Franny to stop seeing me, and she knew we'd gone to the lake," I said, hoping like hell Franny wouldn't think I'd told Steve everything. I had, but that was beside the point.

"She's been acting weird ever since she cut out on our date Friday," Steve said.

"She didn't show?"

Steve ran a hand through his hair. "Showed up at the Dingo for a bit, but she wasn't feeling well. Kathy gave her a ride home."

Shit.

"Kathy, huh?" I asked.

Friday. Oh fuck.

I'd forgotten all about Kathy.

I'd told her Friday night we'd go driving, and we always met at the Dingo when we were going together. Here I was all confused about why Evie would be spying on me, and never even remember Kathy. I bet the two of them had gone up there together.

I started to wonder if Kathy's appearance in Steve's car that day wasn't planned from the get go. She'd probably heard all about Franny from Evie, and it was a damn miracle Kathy hadn't shown up to hassle Franny herself. Of course, I was pretty sure that was her next step. Figures it'd take another girl for Kathy to get interested in me again.

I had no idea how I could've forgotten making a date with her for Friday. Maybe there was something about being smacked with a two by four that rattled my brain.

Steve went inside the DX, and Franny and I walked back to my car.

"What'd he say?" Franny asked.

"Doesn't know why Evie's upset," I said, lying through my teeth.

"Why would Evie follow us?" Franny said.

"I don't know," I lied again. "But I don't want you to worry about it."

"Worry?" Franny said, a note of almost panic in her voice. "The girl wrote the word 'whore' on my locker last Monday in red lipstick and now she's threatening to tell the whole school things that aren't true and you're telling me not to worry? People already stay away from me, Two-Bit."

"What's this about your locker?" I asked, momentarily stunned. Takes a lot to do that to me.

"Last Monday after class, it was on my locker, and she and her friends were laughing about it," Franny said, her cheeks turning pink. "Your friend Johnny wiped it off, he and Ponyboy walked me home. I thought it was Christine Weston who'd done it, but now I'm not so sure."

So that's what Johnnycake had been talking about. Dammit. Red lipstick on her locker and the only girl I knew who had blood red lipstick and the attitude to scrawl it on a locker was Kathy.

Franny got in the car and was staring at the floorboards. I started the car up, letting it idle for a minute.

"Look, don't you worry about it, and I mean that," I said. "I'm gonna set everything straight, okay?"

"How?" Franny asked as she looked down over at me. She looked like she was three seconds away from crying on my vinyl seats.

"You let me worry about that," I said, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear and kissing her cheek. "Come on, I better get you home to your sister."

I slammed the clutch in and pulled out of the DX, aiming to drop Franny at home and have a talk with Kathy Pearce.

XXXX

I'd cooled off some after dropping Franny at her place and went back to my own house and settled on the couch with a Bud and set to thinking. I needed to figure out just how I was going to run this.

Kathy was the jealous type, so even though we weren't really dating just then, she wouldn't take a shine to me seeing Franny. 'Course she also wouldn't take a shine to me standing her up for another girl, and it's not like she didn't have a case there. I didn't want to make things worse, but I had no idea how to make 'em better.

Then I had to figure out what to do about Brubaker. I'd heard through the school grapevine he'd been none too happy about the hubs and busted tire, but he never put two and two together to get me. Probably thought I was off nursing my wounds anyway. But I had a bit of an idea brewing in my head that I'd need Soda and Steve's help for, something that would send Brubaker right 'round the bend, and that had me feeling pretty good.

I needed to do something big to get back at his candy ass. Between him and Franny and my rep, I was lookin' to go straight crazy.

I guess first things first.

After dinner I drove over to Kathy's place and found her smoking on the front porch. Her brother Bill had just left – he's a few years older, the usual North Side hood. I liked the guy, even if he did run with Shepard and his boys. Bill never stuck his nose in me and Kathy's business, even though there'd been times he probably should've pounded my head in for something or other.

"You still look like hell," she said with a smile. The girl always knows how to throw out a compliment. "I guess that blow to your head knocked all your brains right out."

"I ain't here to exchange pleasantries," I said, ignoring her insults and leaning against the porch railing. "I want you and Evie to leave her alone."

"I ain't leavin' nobody alone," Kathy said, crossing her legs over and taking a slow drag from her cigarette. The TV was blaring inside, her mother probably half gone from drinking already. Her old man had run out on them a year ago and her mother kinda fell to pieces.

"She didn't do anything to you." I leaned against the porch railing, not trusting myself to sit down next to her. It's hard to explain, but there's always been a thing between me and Kathy.

"You stood me up," she said.

I couldn't really deny that.

"That was my own doing," I said. "I just plum forgot."

"You know, I missed you," she sighed. "Going on two weeks since I'd last gone out with you, and suddenly I forgot what we were fighting about, and I just missed you. And then I go over to school and see you hustling that girl into your car."

"Like you said, we hadn't been out in weeks, Kathy," I said. "And if you got a problem, you can come talk to me about it instead of bothering her."

Kathy looked up at me and shook her head a little before standing up.

"For a guy who made a date with me and stood me up, you seem to be thinking you hold all the cards here," Kathy said. "Imagine my surprise to watch you drive off into the sunset with California girl the night you were supposed to be taking me out. You're a total ass."

I guess I couldn't argue with that one, I kinda deserved it.

"It wasn't her fault," I told her Kathy.

"I want you to break it off with her," Kathy said. "Or she can break it off with you. Either way, I miss you. I want you back."

"Even after I stood you up?"

She didn't even have to answer. We both know it was especially because I stood her up.

I'd dated other girls before when we'd break up, and Kathy never got too bad about it. 'Course, most of those girls were our kind and knew Kathy, so they could go toe to toe with her and it wouldn't faze them. Franny was something different.

"You know I'm good at getting what I want." Kathy stepped down and touched the lapels on my jacket.

"You followed us the other night."

"I had to," Kathy said. "I wasn't letting some California girl wander off with you. I figured she'd get a clue."

"She ain't done nothin' to you," I told her, trying to keep my voice even. "She didn't even know about you and I."

"Well, now she's gonna," Kathy said. "You break it off with her. Or I can do it."

"This is low, even for you," I said.

I heard a crash from inside and the breaking of glass. Kathy stuck her head inside the door and called for her mother. There was no reply.

"She's probably pitched right off her damn chair and busted that bottle to hell," Kathy sighed. "I better make sure she ain't bleeding all over everything."

She disappeared inside for a few minutes, and I sat down on the porch. She came out a minute later and sat down next to me, leaning her head against my arm.

She was a tough chick, and it's hard to explain the pull we have to each other. Before her old man took off and her mom was still her mom, Kathy was a lot of fun. I kind of took it on myself to make her laugh, and we had a good time when we were together. She'd gotten sad and hard the last year, and I still wanted to make her laugh. Sometimes I even managed to do it, and it was like she was back together again.

"I know you don't want her looking over her shoulder," Kathy said. "From what Evie told me, she's a prissy little thing. You know if I'd been there that night in the alley Brubaker wouldn't have gotten close enough to hit you."

A smothered a smile. She was probably right about that.

"Look, you don't think this wannabe Soc is gonna stick around for keeps, do you?" Kathy asked. I'll admit, I hadn't thought farther ahead than our next date. "So cut her loose now. It'll be easier on her, because I'm not giving up."

I couldn't figure why she wanted Franny out of the way so bad. Maybe it was the fact she was a nice, middle class girl and Kathy knew she wasn't. Hell, neither were any of the other girls I'd dated.

Or maybe it was somethin' about Franny being from out of town – Kathy knows all the local girls, knows how she stacks up against them. I guess an unknown enemy was harder to take or something.

Then there was the fact I'd pretty much stood her up for Franny. I wouldn't call Kathy the type to be self conscious and think she didn't measure up, but I guess there was a first time for everything.

"Promise me," Kathy said, her red lips dangerously close, her blonde ringlets dripping down onto her shoulders. She has a pouty mouth, even when she's not pouting, and it always looks like she's two seconds from kissing you. "Break it off with her. You don't want her getting her heart broke when she finds out you already went elsewhere when we got to second in your car the other day."

I froze. "You wouldn't tell her."

"Oh no. _I_ wouldn't."

I didn't see I had much of a choice here. I could keep my mouth shut and risk having Evie or Kathy or anyone tell Franny what I'd done. She was aiming to remove Franny from my life, and I knew she'd do it somehow.

My other option was I could tell Franny myself, get sent packing and have her never speak to me again. She'd be hurt, but Kathy wouldn't do any damage.

It wasn't such a hard choice in the end.

* * *

**A/N:** Oh, Two-Bit. He manages to get himself into a lot of hot water. Think he'll be able to get out of this one? And what's he got planned for Dave Brubaker?

This is one of the chapters I've edited a lot. I'm attempting to make Kathy more relatable - she is the "villain" in a lot of ways, but I at least wanted to show some vulnerability and reason for what she's doing. Any comments on whether it seems believable or if you get her motivations would be appreciated.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** S.E. Hinton owns the Outsiders. I'm just trying to improve my writing.

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay. Got very busy and didn't have a chance to work on this until now. Hopefully updates will be faster in coming now that I'm excited to post a new Dally/Tim/prison fic lol.

* * *

XXXX

Chapter 9

_**Wednesday, April 27, 1966**_

I saw Franny in the morning on Wednesday briefly, but avoided her the rest of the day. I spent lunch at the grocery store with Steve. Pony and Johnny had bussed down for lunch hour.

"Kathy figured it out, huh?" Steve had asked first thing when he saw me.

"You're as much of a genius as she is," I said, sitting on the hood of his car with a Pepsi in my hand. I didn't feel much like eating. I took a drag of my smoke and exhaled quickly. I felt kind of weird, and I didn't know why.

"You run into her?" Steve asked, sitting up on someone else's car hood.

"Went to see her yesterday," I said, flicking my ash onto the ground. "She wants me to break up with Franny."

"You gonna do it?" Ponyboy asked, surprise written all over his face.

"Don't have much choice," I said. "Franny's a nice kid, and ... well, Kathy's probably gonna tell her a whole lotta shit if I don't."

"You're really gonna let her call all the shots?" Steve asked. "Weren't you just getting on my case about that?"

"She didn't say she'd do it, but you know as well as I do she's got a big mouth. She's got her panties in a twist about Franny, and she'd exaggerate the hell out of what happened in the car before just to get a rise out of her. If Franny was a greasy type girl I'd let the two of them settle things. But Franny ain't like that, and I don't want things getting any harder for her than they have to."

Steve lit a cigarette. "What's got you so concerned about her?"

I shrugged. It was kinda hard to explain. "She ain't from around here, and she hasn't exactly had a good welcome. Her old man split, her brother's in Vietnam. Kid's got a lot going on, I don't wanna add to it."

"She's gonna be mad," Ponyboy said.

"Yeah, I reckon she will," I said, taking another drag. It felt like I was smoking a piece of carpet for all the enjoyment I was getting out of it.

"Better she's mad at you then tangled up with the girls, I guess," Steve said. "I don't get why chicks have to be so damn territorial and catty."

This was partly his fault. Evie's one loyal girl and she and Kathy'd run with each other for a few years. Steve had to go and date a girl cozy with mine.

"When are you gonna tell her?" Steve asked. "What are you gonna tell her?"

"I dunno," I said. "Anything I tell her ain't gonna sound too hot. I figure I'll catch up with her when school's out."

I stubbed out my cigarette, which was only half finished, and dumped the rest of my Pepsi on the ground. I got back in my car and drove around for a bit instead of heading back to class. I'd play off a concussion headache to my teachers or something. I had a pretty bad headache comin' on anyway, though I knew it had nothing to do with a concussion.

I parked in the side lot and waited until the final bell rang. I got a real sick feeling in my stomach when I saw Kathy pull into the parking lot.

"What're you doing here?" I asked.

"Came to pick up Evie," she said sweetly.

"Such a good friend," I said.

Kathy leaned against the car.

"Look, you want this done, then you better take off," I told her.

Kathy shrugged, then walked around the side of the school, hopefully never to return. A few minutes later Franny came out the side door. She spotted me by my car right away and walked over. She was smiling, for now.

"Hey," she said. "You got here fast."

"I was waitin' for you," I said. "We gotta talk."

Her brow automatically crinkled and she crossed her arms in front of her, holding her books to her chest.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

It was then that I noticed Kathy was standing at the corner of the building with Evie. They were slowly making their way to Kathy's car. Slow enough they didn't want to miss the show, I guess. I stepped in front of Franny so her back was to the girls. If she started to cry, I didn't want them to see it.

"Two-Bit?" she asked again. "You're scaring me, what's wrong?"

"Look, this ain't gonna sound so good, but I can't see you anymore," I said.

"What?"

I looked down at the ground – couldn't look at her face. The wind had kicked up and was blowing her hair around, just like it had the night I got jumped. I knew if I looked at her I'd mess it all up.

"The reason you're getting hassled is cuz of me, and this is the easiest way to get it to stop," I said.

"Two-Bit, I don't care about that. We don't have to stop seeing each other just because people don't like it," Franny said.

"It ain't just about that," I said, wishing I had a cigarette. My mouth felt like sandpaper and my head was pounding. Maybe I was comin' down with something.

"Well, what then?" Franny asked. "You don't just break up with someone for no reason! And I never pegged you for a coward."

Her voice was getting louder and carried on the wind, and I heard Kathy and Evie laugh. Franny turned around and saw them.

"Two-Bit, what is going on?" Franny said, her voice low.

Kathy started walking towards us, and my stomach felt like a lead balloon.

"Two-Bit, you ready?" Kathy asked. "I'll meet you at the Dingo in ten minutes?"

"Who's that?" Franny asked. I couldn't seem to find any words to answer and I watched everything, kinda detached-like as Kathy started walking over.

"Franny, I'm sorry," I said quietly, as Kathy got closer.

Kathy stepped up to me and put a hand around my arm. She looked down at Franny and gave her a cool hello.

"Two-Bit?" came Franny's voice, barely a whisper, and not soundin' all that good.

"I'm Kathy," she said, sticking out a hand. "Two-Bit's girlfriend."

I swear I never saw someone go as pale as Franny did right then.

"Your … your girlfriend?" she asked, her voice full of accusation.

"Ex-girlfriend," I said, making sure it was clear to both of 'em.

"Not for long," Kathy said. "We might break up now and again, but we always get back together."

"I didn't know," Franny said, looking at Kathy in horror. I realized right then that Franny was a pretty decent girl. Here I was hurting her feelings, and she was trying to make things right with Kathy.

"Well, it was nice meeting you," Kathy said, throwing Franny a disingenuous smile. She gave me a wink and headed toward her car with Evie.

"I know you don't believe it right now, but I'm tryin' to do right," I said weakly.

"Do right? You're a liar and a cheater," Franny said, her eyes watery, and her hair whipping around. "How could you do this to me? I trusted you."

She turned on her heel and started walking across the grass.

"Franny!" I called. But her name got lost in the wind.

XXXX

Franny was so mad she thought nothing about stalking right through the group of boys that always made her so nervous in the parking lot and around school. She was trying to keep the tears in, but they spilled over and blurred everything around her.

"Hey there blondie, you ever wanna try a real man, you come find me," a leering voice said as she passed them.

"Leave her alone, Ray," someone said.

Franny crossed the road onto the sidewalk and moved as quickly as she could, wanting to get away from that school. She had been so stupid!

She got on the bus and rode it toward her area of town, looking out the window and trying not to cry. She got off at her bus stop and had a ten block walk ahead of her. She couldn't help the tears that overflowed as she walked. She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her blouse so she could see. She had to stop crying before she got home.

"Franny, wait up!"

She hesitated a second before turning around and finding Ponyboy jogging to catch up to her, another boy not far behind.

"Ponyboy, please just leave me alone," Franny said.

"I would, but Curly Shepard's been followin' you since you got off the bus," he said, taking her elbow and pulling her out into the street. They got to the other side and kept walking down a residential street.

"God, I hate this place!" Franny said.

"Curly just sees an opportunity to ask you out," Pony said awkwardly. "He said he saw you at the Dingo and thought you were cute."

"Well, he's got lousy timing," Franny said.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, the street quiet, the wind dying down.

"I'm sorry about Two-Bit," Ponyboy said.

Now how did he know already? Did everyone in the whole damn universe know he already had a girlfriend?

"I saw Two-Bit at lunch," Pony said. "He and Kathy go together sometimes. Not when he met you though."

She said nothing, undecided about whether to believe the younger boy or not.

"She sure seems to think they're still together," Franny sniffed.

"Probably jealous," Pony said. "Two-Bit was just trying to break it off with you so Kathy and Evie would leave you alone. I think Kathy's the one that wrote on your locker. He was just trying to protect you is all."

Franny rolled her eyes. "That's not how you protect people. God, I wish my brother was here so he could kick Two-Bit's head in!"

Pony grinned a little. "Two-Bit's a pretty good fighter when he's not clocked in the head."

"So's Gerald," Franny said.

"Where is he?" Pony asked.

"Vietnam."

"No kidding?"

"He's coming back in July," she said. "Said in his last letter he'd spend the whole summer out here if he could. _I_ don't even want to spend the whole summer out here."

They had reached her street and were on the sidewalk in front of her house.

"Thanks for walking me," she said, noticing the curly haired boy was nowhere to be seen.

Ponyboy started to walk back up the street, when he turned back around.

"He really likes you," he said. "And he is tryin' to do right for once."

Franny watched him walk away, still not knowing what to believe.

XXXX

I felt like shit.

Kathy took off to the Dingo, but I didn't bother following. She wasn't getting me back that easy. I figured she was gonna come around anyway - she wouldn't think of the Franny situation as settled until the two of us were dating like nothing had happened.

It's bullshit like this that makes the two of us break up so often.

I ended up at the Curtis house instead of my own. Most days it's more entertaining than my own house. My mom works all the time and my sister's either not there or she's bringing her friend around the house and I have to listen to the two of them yammer on all night. Sometimes I wish I had brothers.

"I hate women," I sighed, lying back on the couch with a beer. No one was home yet, and we'd always just walk into each others' houses. It was awhile later when I heard the screen door slam.

"She's real mad," Pony said, with no hesitation.

"You saw her?"

"She got off the bus on North Peoria like always," he said. "I walked her home, saw Curly trying to catch up with her."

"Opportunistic little slug," I said, taking a drink. Curly needed vulnerable women just to have half a chance at scoring a date.

"She didn't seem to believe me when I told her you were just doing it to keep her safe," Pony said.

"You told her?"

"Not about you and Kathy necking if that's what you mean. Just that you were trying to do right."

I sighed. "Don't really matter what she thinks now, does it? What's done is done."

I flaked out on the couch for awhile, half asleep between doors banging – Darry home first from his day job roofing houses, then Soda home from the DX. Johnny stopped by after dinner, then Dally showed up before hitting Buck's. Racing season was getting into gear and he was spending a lot of time over there.

Steve was the last to get there, his shift ending just after dinner, and then there was no point sleeping, or trying to, with everyone yelling, the TV blaring, Soda playing records at top volume and at least one wrestling match occurring at any given moment.

Dally cut out of there early – he wasn't in no mood to listen to a sob story about a girl, not that I was sobbing, especially when he had very little recollection of said girl – "Ain't she the crazy broad there that night you got clobbered?" was as good as his memory got about Franny.

Awhile later Darry had Pony doing homework, and Johnny headed out to the lot or something. I don't know where the kid spends his time when he doesn't wanna go home. Steve was on the outs with his old man and was taking the couch that night.

"I'm thinkin' I might need your help for a little dish I like to call revenge," I said, tryin' to put the normal cheer back into my voice. What's done was done. No use thinking about it and bein' miserable.

"Now you're talking," Steve said, getting up off the floor where he'd been choke holding Soda by the neck.

"It's gonna have to be at night," I said, grabbing another beer from the fridge. One of these days I gotta buy a case, I keep drinkin' all Darry's beers and he never says a word. "It's gonna be a bit complicated."

"As long as there's no police trouble," Darry said, looking at Soda. "And Pony, it's out of the question you helpin' him out. I don't want you getting in any trouble before you even get to Rogers."

"Come on Darry," Pony said. "These Socs beat Two-Bit with a two-by-four, at least let me help 'em out."

"Yeah, come on Darry," Soda said.

The three of them bickered back and forth a bit. The past few months had been hard on 'em all since their parents died, but Darry was doing a good job keeping everyone together and stuff. As long as they don't get in no trouble, Soda and Pony get to stay here, so I wasn't looking to get anyone arrested. Whatever Darry said, I'd go along with. I could always hunt up some help from one or two of Shepard's boys if I needed it.

"At least hear me out before you decide," I said to Darry. "Fair's fair. I ain't aiming to get picked up by the fuzz neither, although there's always a chance."

"You got school tomorrow," Darry said towards Pony.

"I'm thinkin' Friday night for this," I said, lighting a cigarette. "It's gonna be good."

"Yeah, well anything's good with me," Steve said. "I got into it with Dave Brubaker just the other day, he was accusing me of stealin' his hubs."

"You did steal his hubs," Pony said from the dining room.

"Yeah, but that ain't the point," Steve said with a grin. "Fight got broken up pretty quick by a couple teachers, I'm aimin' to cause that joker some pain."

"We'll get him where it hurts," I said with a smile. "His GTO."

XXXX

_**Friday, April 29, 1966**_

"Two-Bit, this is crazy, even for you," Steve whispered. It was Friday night, and I'd avoided a date with Kathy claiming I had some Soc business to take care of. I didn't think she believed me at first, but I guess Evie told her I was gonna be with Steve. So she let me off the hook as long as I promised to take her out Saturday night and ditch my poker game.

We were crouched in the bushes outside Dave Brubaker's house. The driveway had a couple cars, but we were most interested in the GTO. My plan was pretty simple, at least in theory.

"You sure Dally's gonna show?" Steve asked.

"Said he would as long as he don't get picked up nowhere," I said. "Johnny might come by too."

There was still a light on in the house and I was gonna wait a good half hour after they all went out before making any kind of move.

"Seen Franny lately?" Steve asked.

"No," I said. It was kind of a lie. I'd seen her in the hall once, between classes on Thursday. She'd held her head up and breezed right on past me like she'd never seen me before and I have to admit it bugged me some. I was just glad Kathy had graduated, and I didn't have to deal with her. Seeing Franny's face had been enough for me.

A minute later a giant hand clapped down on my shoulder, and Steve and I almost jumped a mile.

"Dammit Dally!" Steve said, his voice raised a little. "Thought you were the cops."

"That'll be a cold day in hell," he said. "What's up?"

I'd already outlined the basic idea to him the night before. We all huddled down in the bushes by this low brick fence. We were in a pretty high end Soc neighbourhood and stuck out like sore thumbs.

"You got my car?" Steve asked.

"It's parked down the street some," Dally said.

"Good deal," I answered. Steve's car wouldn't stick out as much as mine would have.

We waited awhile longer and finally the light went out and we waited longer still until we were sure everyone was asleep or trying to be. We crept up the driveway quietly, our shoes barely making noise on the pavement.

Steve was inside the car in seconds and popped it into neutral and me and Dally started pushing it down the driveway. Luckily it was flat, otherwise we'd have been in some trouble. We got it out on the street and started pushing it along the road until we'd reached Steve's car. Dally jumped in and Steve spent a second hot wiring the GTO, and we headed towards the school.

XXXX

"Man this is one tuff car," I said as we cruised down to the high school. I can't believe these Socs and their money sometimes. I'd never driven anything that rode so nice. My old Special Deluxe just doesn't compare.

We pulled into the parking lot close to the gym and cut the engine. Dally had the Impala parked around on a side street, and I spotted Johnny waiting around the side parking lot. He walked over to check out the GTO.

"Which way should we go in?" Steve asked.

Dally took a look at the building thoughtfully. "Gym doors open from the inside only, and the windows in here have wire in the glass. Best to break out a couple windows by the side classrooms and sneak in that way."

"I'll need someone to boost me up," I said, picking up a couple rocks and heading to the front of the school.

I broke out a couple panes of glass – it was kinda fun – then used my jacket over my hand to clear all the glass away. Steve boosted me up, and I was inside in seconds.

School's kind of creepy when no one's there. I couldn't risk turning any lights on or anything, and walking through all those dark halls got me in a spooked kind of mood. I made my way to the gym doors and pushed them open. I could hear my footsteps echoing around the empty gym. Monday there was a big basketball game going on. Not that my little prank would stop that, but it'd sure raise some eyebrows first thing in the morning for practice.

I went to the far end of the gym and to the right, where there were a couple sets of double doors. I pushed them open and we set to our mission.

It was a tight squeeze getting that car in those doors, let me tell you. Johnny and I supervised as Steve drove it in, with just a hair free on each side before we'd have taken off the paint.

"Where do you want it?" Steve asked as I closed the doors behind us.

"Dunno," I sighed. "If we could get it up off the floor that'd be good enough for me."

Dally had brought a few items in the back of Buck's car – a few loops of chain, some industrial strength rope and a case of beer which he was currently enjoying. Manual labour ain't his thing.

"I brought these," Steve said, holding some wooden things. "They're cribs. We jack the car up on the jack stands I brought, take the tires off and then rest the axels on the cribs. It'll take 'em forever to get this thing outta here."

We set to it, and had the car hitched up in no time. Steve jacked it up and we all set to getting the tires off. The flashlights we brought were starting to die, and we had to work quick. We managed to get all the tires off and then the car was jacked down onto the wooden cribs.

"Fuck Two-Bit, next time, just beat their heads in," Dally said, wiping sweat off his brow.

"That comes later," I said. "King Soc is gonna shit himself when we wakes up in the morning and finds his car missing."

"Then shows up here Monday morning and sees it sitting in the gym," Steve said, joining in the laughter.

"You guys are nuts, man," Dally said, shaking his head. We headed out the gym doors – it was closing in on three in the morning.

Brubaker would likely file a report on his stolen car. 'Course the fuzz would never think to look in the gym. I was planning on getting to school pretty early on Monday.

"You want a ride Dal? Johnny?" I asked. Dally shook his head, his bangs falling down on his forehead. I always thought he'd look a little better if he slicked his hair some, but he never did.

"Nah. I'm gonna head downtown, hunt Shepard down," Dally said. "He owes me fifty bucks."

Johnny doesn't say much, but he didn't wanna walk alone and said he'd meet us out front. Dally lit up a Kool – I can't stand those mentholated things – and Steve and me walked to the Impala and started it up, heading towards the front of the school. As we turned from the side street onto he main one, I saw the cop car pull up in front of the school just as Dally walked around the side. The light from the cruiser's headlights lit him up like a Christmas tree, and wouldn't you know he was standing next to the broken windows when they saw him.

I think I was about to owe Dally more than just a beer.

* * *

**A/N:** How do you think Brubaker's going to take it when he finds his car missing? And do you think Franny will cool off and forgive Two-Bit? Is Two-Bit really going to keep his distance from her?


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders. I'm just borrowing to have some fun.

* * *

XXXX

Chapter 10

_**Saturday, April 30, 1966**_

Franny sat in the armchair Saturday night and stared at the small black and white television, not paying much attention to what was on. She was miserable.

Lindy had quit asking her to play dolls after Franny had snapped at her. She leaned her head back against the chair, her eyes focused on the old family photo on top of the television.

Her mother kept it up, despite the fact her father was in the photo, only because it was the nicest picture they had of Gerald. His Marine uniform was pressed and he looked so handsome and so old and grown up.

Sometimes she hated him for joining up. He always liked stuff like that, the military and guns and things. It made her sick thinking about him trooping through a jungle, getting shot at, maybe even killing people himself. None of it made any sense. She knew he ran away from home to the Marines, just to get away from their parents and the fighting, and look where he headed. Straight into fighting that was more dangerous and sickening.

She'd give anything to have him home right now. He was a good big brother, and she got along with him just great. He always knew the right thing to say.

"You didn't eat much at dinner," her mother said, handing Franny a plate with a piece of apple pie.

"I'm not that hungry," she answered quietly.

"Did something happen at school?" her mother asked. "You were in such a good mood earlier in the week, now you mope around the house, and you haven't been out in days."

"School's fine," Franny answered, pushing the pie around on her plate.

"Two-Bit hasn't been around," her mother said, picking up one of Lindy's shirts to mend.

Franny sighed. "He won't be coming around anymore."

"Francine, I'm sorry," her mother said. "Did you have a fight?"

"Not exactly," Franny mumbled. "I don't want to talk about it."

Her mother was quiet for a few moments.

"Franny …" she said softly. "Do you like it here?"

Franny looked up from her plate, the pie still untouched.

"Do you?" her mother prodded.

Franny slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry. I just hate it here."

Before she could stop them, the tears started to fall again. She'd done such a good job not crying the whole time since Two-Bit had told her they couldn't see each other.

"Oh Francine," her mother said, coming over and sitting on the arm of the chair and putting her arms around her. "This move has been hard on you, hasn't it?"

Franny started crying in earnest. "I just don't fit in here. Things were okay when he was my friends, but now ... I thought he liked me, mother. I really did."

Her mother sat there, stroking her hair and whispering to her, but all Franny could think of was the way Evie and Kathy had laughed at her.

XXXX

_**Monday, May 2, 1966**_

Monday morning I'd stopped by Steve's place before picking up Pony and Johnny at an ungodly hour, with promise of Soc humiliation and a lot of laughs. I figured Darry wouldn't mind if Pony was late for his first class, so I promised to drop them at Cleveland as soon as the show was over. We got to Rogers early, and I gotta say it was a first for me being at school that early.

"Y'all hear Dally got hauled in?" Pony asked.

I sighed. "Yeah, I feel pretty bad, but Dal's tough, he'll be out sometime today if all goes right."

The cops had just assumed Dally had broken out those windows, and he didn't say any different. You ask me, Dally would cop to just about anything to get it added to that record he was so proud of. Dal had done a good job of convincing the cops he'd just broken the windows out the moment they showed, so the fuzz hadn't checked the inside of the school. Dally was old hat at spending the weekend in jail. Sometimes I think he got picked up on purpose so he'd have a place to sleep.

We sat outside the school smoking and goofing off until more kids started to show up. The basketball team was going to be headed into the gym for practice before classes started. We didn't want to be too close to the action – nothing like showing up before the alarm sounds to show you're involved.

So once we heard the hollering, we took off around to the gym.

"What's goin' on?" Ray Roth asked.

"Dunno," I said with a grin. "Sounds exciting though."

I cocked an eyebrow at him, and he looked at me suspiciously before he and some of his lunk head friends started to follow. There was a crowd gathered outside the gymnasium and it took some jostling before I could get in to see our handiwork.

The car was still up on the blocks. Brubaker was in his basketball uniform, just about blowing a gasket.

"That's my fucking car!" he yelled, jumping a little, he was so mad. "They stole my fucking car!"

Mr. Casing fought his way through the crowd from the inside doors and tried to get everyone to head back into the hallways and go to their classrooms. Fat chance. People were talking, greasers were laughing and high fiving one another.

"Mr. Brubaker, what is the meaning of this?" Mr. Casing roared.

"They stole my car!" he said, his face red from all the yelling. "I woke up Saturday and it was gone, and they stole it and brought it here!"

"They? Who's this mysterious they, Mr. Brubaker?" Casing asked. "The - what does this say 'Senior Class of 1966?'"

The little banner had been a stroke of genius on Ponyboy's part. It was hanging kinda sloppily off the car now.

"What?"

Brubaker rounded the car and saw the sign and his face got even redder. He grabbed the sign and yanked it off the car as hard as he could. The tape we'd used to stick it on peeled off some of the paint.

"Senior prank or not, this is absolutely un-called for," Mr. Casing said. "Mrs. Robins, please tell the janitor to gather some people to help with this. Mr. Brubaker, my office. We have a phone call to place to your parents."

I saw Brubaker turn even redder before he crunched up the sign and tossed it into the crowd, many of whom were now laughing, thinking it was all some big prank. I was having a good laugh myself when I spotted Franny over near the inner doors. We locked eyes for a second before we were interrupted by the yelling.

"Whoever did this is dead!" he roared, slapping his fist on the bumper.

Well, that about did it for the car. It slipped off one of the cribs and the front end crashed down to the floor, the axel bending. A second later it so quiet you'd have thought someone died. When the side mirror fell off, that's when we all lost it laughing.

"Mathews!" he yelled, stalking towards me. "You're dead, Mathews!"

There were more teachers in the gym now, trying to break up the crowds, and one of them pulled Brubaker out of the gym and likely towards Casing's office. I saw Franny look at me again, shake her head a little and head out into the hall. A few guys came up to chat as I was making my way after her.

"You're crazy, Mathews," Pete Malcolm said.

"Ain't that the truth," I said with a laugh. "If I'd known they offered free parking here at the gym, I would've brought my car a long time ago."

XXXX

I was in the hallway a few minutes later – it'd taken awhile to get past all the greaser congratulations – when I saw Franny.

"Hey, Franny, wait up," I said. She kept walking, and I was lucky I had long legs, because she's faster than she looks. I finally stepped in front of her and she stopped. The hallways were pretty crowded, and no one was giving us much room.

"Please move," she said, her voice even, like she was talking to a total stranger.

"Can we talk for a sec?" I asked.

"I don't think your girlfriend would like that," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She's pretty good at making things sound bad. She was holding her books up in front of her, like some kind of barrier. She tried to dart past me on one side, but I put a hand on her shoulder to slow her up.

"Come on, hold up for just a second," I said. I pulled her into the recessed doorway of a dark classroom.

"Better hope Evie doesn't see you with me," she said bitterly. "Wouldn't want her to tell Kathy."

"Franny, I'm sorry," I said. I meant it too, and I don't apologize very often. "Kathy and I, we've gone together off and on for years, but we weren't together when I met you and that's the God's honest truth. She just got jealous when she heard I was seein' you, and ... well, she wanted me to break it off. She would've made your life hell if I hadn't."

"And you didn't think I could handle it?" Franny asked. Her eyes were blazing again and she looked damn beautiful all mad. It was all I could do to stop myself from kissing her.

"I don't doubt you can hold your own in a war of words, that's for sure," I said.

"You gave in that easy to her. Just like that she asks you to break it off and you did. Maybe I don't wanna go out with someone who caves that easy," Franny said.

"Shoot, Franny - "

"And what about when we _were_ together?" Franny asked. "It wasn't like we'd dated a long time, but what about then?"

"What?"

"You said you weren't together with her when we met, what about when you and I were together?" she asked.

Uh oh.

I guess I took too long in answering.

"That's what I thought."

She tried to move past me, but I blocked her way and she was backed up against the classroom door. For a split second I saw something that looked a bit like fear cross her face, and I felt ashamed.

"The Monday after I got jumped. She showed up in my car, we kissed a little, that was it," I said, letting the truth go. She looked up at me and I could tell she didn't believe it. "That's what she was holding over my head. She was gonna come tell you, and I didn't want that."

She was still looking at me like she didn't believe a word. I figured I may as well come totally clean and to hell with everything.

"I made a date with her. For the Friday."

Franny suddenly wrinkled her brow. "The same Friday you made with me?"

"Same one," I said with a sigh. "Evie was none too impressed to see me drive off with you, with Kathy sittin' inside the Dingo waiting on me. They followed us up to the lake in her car."

I could see Franny's face turning all pink.

"Look, I didn't wanna break it off with you, but Kathy's got it in for you. She knows all the girls I've gone with before, you're something different and I think it scares her," I said. "It scares me, too. You're the first decent girl that don't look at me like I'm something to spit on."

Her face softened for just a second, and I really thought she was gonna forgive me.

"I trusted you," she said, her voice sharp and sounding kinda funny. "You lied and you went behind my back. I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend," I said, trying to stop her from leaving again.

"Friends don't do that to each other," she said. Her eyes looked watery, like she was trying not to cry. "I never felt so humiliated in my life, you breaking up with me in front of them and the whole world. Now everyone's gonna hear you were with her too. They already heard we went parking."

"I didn't plan it that way, they just showed up, Franny," I said. I was surprised at how desperate my voice sounded. "And no one's gonna hear about anything. I swear it."

She sighed a little and I saw her shoulders sag. When she looked up at me again, it was like some kind of light had been turned off.

"You can't swear it, Two-Bit. You can't control everyone. They're gonna say what they want," she sighed. "I just have to live with it."

I didn't have anything to say to that.

"Was that your handiwork?" she asked, nodding her head back towards the gym.

I nodded and grinned a little. "Some friends too."

"You couldn't just leave it alone?" she asked. "Everything was dying down and now those Socs are all fired up at you again."

"You think it'd be better to let them get away with bashing my head in? If you hadn't gone for help, you know what they would've done. No way I was gonna let 'em get away with it. Still ain't," I said.

"This stupid war would just end if one of you would just put your dumb pride aside and stop pushing it," she said. "But that's too much to ask of you, isn't it? You'll push until someone gets really hurt. I just hope it's not you."

She pushed past me this time and I let her go.

"We ever gonna be okay?" I called after her.

She turned around and looked at me, her cheeks wet. She held my gaze for a second, looking like she was trying to think of some words that fit, then she turned around and left.

I couldn't make up my mind whether that was a yes or no.

* * *

**A/N:** So, any bets on whether this is going to calm down Two-Bit's rivalry with Brubaker or not? And is Franny going to cool off enough to give Two-Bit the time of day?


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

_**Saturday, May 7, 1966**_

Franny always looked back at that week as the longest week of school in her life. Fights broke out in the hallways, and even in a classroom once. Socs would pick fights with greasers and greasers with Socs. Sometimes it was about something stupid, other times, she didn't even know what it was.

Evie left her alone, passing her in the hallway like she wasn't even there. Christine Weston, the blonde girlfriend of the Soc hassling Two-Bit, didn't even bother paying much attention to her either.

Steve had stopped staring at her legs in Geometry, and she never saw Two-Bit around school. People were whispering and talking about the car prank. Some people believed Dave Brubaker was just blaming the greasers so he wouldn't get into trouble for orchestrating a senior prank that damaged school property. Other people didn't think he would've risked his precious car for a prank, even one that would go down in school history, and were sure it was the greasers. Still others thought it was odd he'd never filed a police report about his missing car, using that as proof positive that Brubaker was in on it somehow.

It was a lonely week. But at least no one was talking about her.

She took the bus and then walked the rest of the way home on Friday, not looking forward to another weekend alone. Lindy was trying her best to cheer her up, which for her meant marathon sessions of having Franny pick outfits for her Barbie's fashion show. Franny would be happy if she never had to see Midge, Skipper and Ken ever again.

Saturday evening, the sun was still out, the day blazing warm for early May. Tulsa was kind of pretty on a nice day, and she was dismayed to see she was getting used to it. With Lindy a few doors down at a friend's, and her mother doing housework, all the while trying to convince her to go out, Franny felt like she was going crazy. She finally decided to walk to the Tastee Freez for some dessert.

"I'm glad to see you getting out," her mother said, handing her a few coins for spending money. "Maybe you'll meet someone."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and set out towards the Tastee-Freez.

The walk took about fifteen minutes, and all it gave her was time to think about how the next year and a half would be until she could go away to college. She'd be miserable, with no friends, no dates and everyone around her fighting and throwing punches. She'd be an outcast until graduation, when she could finally go back to California, go to secretarial school and forget Tulsa ever happened.

She walked into the Tastee Freez in an even worse mood than when she'd left her house.

"I'll have a deluxe strawberry sundae," she said when she got to the counter. "Extra whip and sprinkles please."

As the sun set, the place got more crowded, and Franny got her sundae and sat out on the picnic tables in the parking lot, watching the cars come and go. Everyone was in groups, boys and girls. The crowd here was a lot tamer than at the drive-in restaurant Two-Bit had taken her to, and she was glad for it. The way everyone was acting, she didn't want to be around those Socs or the greasers for that matter.

She missed home. She missed Joyce and Roberta - she missed having someone to talk to. She missed her brother, she missed her room at home. She even missed her father. Even though he had rarely been around the last year, and when he had, her parents fought horribly. But she missed him.

Her mother had convinced her that moving to Tulsa would be good for them. Away from Pasadena and all the bad memories. Except Franny didn't have too many bad ones. Her mother should have run away without her, just like Gerald did.

Franny knew all along that's what Gerry had done – joined the Marines to escape all the fighting, and now where was he?

Franny scooped up the last strawberry in the cup and ate it. The crowd was a little younger here, but much safer. She didn't feel bad about walking home alone. And if something happened to her - well, it would just top off the perfect month in her new home, wouldn't it?

There was an unfamiliar sedan parked in front of her house. For a moment she let herself hope it was Two-Bit. She'd kind of blown him off at school the week before. The truth was she'd had no idea what to say. On one hand she missed him terribly and didn't want to open up a can of worms with Evie or this Kathy girl. On the other hand, she was so angry at him for not telling her what was going on in the first place.

She was mad about the Socs too. She was mad at them for attacking him. She'd found his prank funny – not that she'd tell him that – but she knew it wasn't the end, he'd said as much. She was afraid for him. She didn't know if she wanted to be a part of the insanity of this turf war.

But still … what if it was him?

She hurried up the last few steps and into the house, then stopped when she saw her mother being comforted by Mrs. Lange, one of her co-workers at the seamstress shop she worked in.

"Mom?" she asked, her voice wavering. Her throat was suddenly dry.

"Oh, Francine," her mother said hoarsely.

Franny let out a breath and grabbed hold of the back of the armchair. She had never seen her mother look so scared.

"Is Lindy okay?"

"She's fine. She's upstairs," her mother said, looking up at her with red ringed eyes.

"Then what?" she asked, staring at Mrs. Lange's face. She saw her mother's red eyes and the handkerchief twisting in her fingers. "What's wrong?"

"It's Gerald."

Her brother. Her brother the Marine. In Vietnam. He isn't okay. Something is terribly, horribly wrong.

"Is he … is he alive?" she asked, barely able to get the words out.

Her mother nodded. "We've been on the phone trying to find more details. A telegram came this afternoon."

Franny looked at the paper on the coffee table and moved towards it, her legs feeling wobbly.

She looked at the typewritten words. Your son, Gerald E. Collins, was wounded in duty. Details to follow. Stop.

"Wounded?" she said, her voice barely a whisper. "Was he shot?"

"I called Camp Pendleton," Mrs. Lange said. "They had only a little more information."

"What?" Franny asked. "Please!"

"Francine," her mother said. "He stepped on a landmine."

Franny felt the room spin.

"Catch her!" her mother yelled.

But Franny steadied herself against the armchair and struggled to breathe.

"Is he going to live?" she asked. She looked from her mother to Mrs. Lange. Her mother answered.

"They're going to do everything they can sweetheart. I hope to God – " her mother's thought ended abruptly. "He lost his leg."

Franny looked around the pale walls, at the brown couch, her mother's eyes, Mrs. Lange's blue dress – the picture on the television, her brother in his uniform. Then she turned around and rushed out the door, down the stairs and away from the house.

XXXX

Franny had run until her lungs burned.

She had run with no destination in mind and when she'd stopped she was hot, gulping air and looking down at her ruined shoes.

She was kind of close to the place Two-Bit had called the Ribbon, where the Dingo was. She recognized a few of the buildings and finally sat down on a bench near a bus stop. The tears kept blinding her, turning the pavement a milky grey.

Gerald might die. Her mother didn't even have to say it and she knew. And if he lived? His leg had been blown off. Her athletic, strong older brother, a cripple in a uniform. He would never survive it, he couldn't.

She tried to stop crying, but the more she tried, the harder it got. She breathed in deeply, looking up to the sky. It was dark, close to nine o'clock according to the clock on the building across the street, and the stars were poking through a murky black sky.

I'm gonna burst out of my skin, Franny thought miserably. She wanted to leave. Get on a bus, go to wherever Gerald was. Still in Vietnam, she guessed. She hated that country already.

She shuddered as the wind kicked up, a breeze ruffling the edge of her skirt, one of her old longer ones, hitting just at her knee.

What would it be like to look down and see nothing where her leg used to be?

She tasted salty tears again, felt her chest tightening. She had to get out of here.

She stood up and looked both ways down the street and started walking north, not knowing where she was going or what she was going to do.

XXXX

She crossed over an overpass that traversed train tracks and had begun to recognize the area she was in a few minutes later. A lane here, an alley there. She remembered dragging Two-Bit's dazed form through these same streets with the blond boy, the one that scared her. She rubbed her upper arms self consciously.

She hadn't paid much attention to where they'd been going that night, quite sure that Two-Bit's rescuer knew exactly where he was going. They had ended up at Two-Bit's house, and Franny was finding now that it was like her mind had remembered every step. A little while later she found herself standing in front of a house on North Trenton.

His car wasn't there.

Why was she there?

Explosions. Did he feel it? Was he conscious? Did he call out for his family? Where was he? Would he live?

Franny shook her head, trying to get the image of her brother, lying twisted in a field or a jungle or wherever. He probably looked up at the same black sky, wondering if he was going to die.

"Stop it, stop it, stop it," she said, crying again. She bent over and took a breath and walked up to the door and was about to knock when it was flung open.

A redheaded girl, probably close to her age, looked kind of surprised to see her there. She guessed it was Two-Bit's sister.

"Is Two-Bit here?" Franny asked, her voice sounding unnaturally high.

"No, sorry," she said. The girl looked familiar, but Franny didn't want to waste time trying to place her.

"Do you know where he is?" Franny asked. "It's an emergency."

"You're Franny."

She nodded.

"Try over at Buck Merril's place," she said, starting to shut the door behind her and lock it.

"Where is that?" Franny asked, putting her arm out to stop her from leaving. The girl sighed and looked at Franny for a moment before answering.

"Go north up this street until it ends, then go left, then take the first right up North Rockford. It's about two blocks up, turn left onto East Oklahoma. It's a two storey white building," She hesitated a second. "It's a rough place."

"Thanks," Franny said, dashing down the stairs and turning right up the street.

XXXX

Two-Bit's sister hadn't been kidding about it being a rough place. As she approached the building she could already hear music, yelling and the roar of engines. A few souped up old cars were in the dirt lot out front, their owners showing off for a crowd.

The girls wore short skirts like hers, only they were accompanied with thin shirts, high heels and more makeup than Franny even owned. She swallowed nervously before heading up the front steps. She could see all kinds of people inside, dancing, drinking and smoking. Her mother would kill her for being here.

She caught a sob at the word kill.

She went over to the door, opened the screen and knocked on it. A few minutes later a lanky cowboy sauntered over.

"What?" he asked, with no preamble.

"I'm looking for Two-Bit Mathews," she said. "Is he here?"

The cowboy sighed, looked over his shoulder and shrugged.

"Dunno," he said, giving her a look up and down that made her shudder. "Go look if ya want."

He held the door for her and she walked in the room, aware that quite a few people were staring at her. She probably looked like a mess. There was a bar set up in front and a bit to the left of the door. She walked in and slid in between two bar stools and looked out at the crowd. She tried to spot Two-Bit, but she couldn't see him for all the smoke.

She bit her lower lip, trying not to cry. Someone brushed past her to get to the bar.

"Hey Ruby, get me a beer."

"That's 'get me a beer please,'" the girl behind the bar– Ruby, she supposed – answered.

"Get me a beer and go fuck yourself," he answered, flipping her off.

Franny looked over at the voice, familiar to her for its harshness. The blond.

"Hey," she said, taking hold of his jacket and tugging on the sleeve. "Hey!"

He turned to look at her and grinned slowly. "Hey yourself."

"You're Two-Bit's friend, right?" she asked, raising her voice over the music.

His face changed, and the smile was gone, replaced with a wary look.

"Who's askin'?"

"I'm Franny, remember?" she said. "From the night Two-Bit got beat up?"

"The crier."

She frowned a little, then nodded.

"Looks like you never quit that shit," he said. The girl behind the bar, who couldn't have been much older than her, was holding out the beer he'd ordered.

"Dally ..." she said impatiently. He turned, and she slammed the bottle down on the bar. He grinned at the girl's back.

"Look, is Two-Bit here?" Franny asked. "I really need to find him."

"You really ain't that smart, huh?" Dally said, taking a long drink. What kind of name was Dally anyway?

"What?"

"I'm not sayin' I'd let a chick like Kathy tell me what to do if I was a broad, but I didn't figure you for stupid enough to cross her," he said, looking at Franny out of the corner of his eye.

"Please, do you know where he is?" Franny asked, panic setting in again. Seemed like no one in this town could give her a decent answer about anything.

"Maybe," he answered slowly. "Why?"

"I just need to talk to him," she said, the tears suddenly overflowing again.

"Oh, for Christ's sake," he said. "What's with you and all the fucking tears?"

"Please, I just wanna find Two-Bit," she said, sniffling, trying to ignore all his coarse language.

"Well go find him someplace else, he ain't here," Dally answered, looking over at her contemptuously.

Franny looked at him through her tears. If she didn't feel so crazy she probably would've been scared of him. He looked like he'd been in his share of fights. It seemed like the only thing the boys here knew how to do.

He moved away from the bar into the crowd. She paused a moment, then darted after him.

"I don't have anywhere to go," she said, following him.

"Cry me a fucking river."

"Just give me an address or something …."

"You ever give it a rest?" he asked, turning around so fast she walked into him. He put an unlit cigarette in his mouth and stared at her. "It's a wonder Two-Bit didn't break up with you sooner with all this yapping."

"I don't know anyone here," Franny said, crying in earnest now. "Except you."

He turned around and looked at her again, shaking his head.

"Uh uh. I ain't havin' some crying broad trailing me around all night like my goddamn shadow," he said, looking around the room. "You're already scaring all the hot chicks away, now beat it."

She wiped her cheeks, and they were instantly wet again, and someone – she couldn't even see who – handed her a grimy handkerchief.

"I mean, if I just stay here with you, maybe Two-Bit'll come by, right?" she asked, dabbing her eyes and looking up at him again.

His eyes narrowed, and she locked her gaze with his for a second, feeling like she ought to turn and run out of the room or else risk a black eye – or worse. But he knew where Two-Bit was, and darn it, he was going to help her.

"You're a piece of work," he said, looking her over. He looked up at the ceiling, then towards the door. "Come on."

He moved so quickly she could barely keep up with his long strides. He was out in the dirt lot before she'd even reached the door.

"I said come on," he told her. "You go any slower I'm gonna start getting pissed off."

Start? She ran down the stairs and followed him to a red Thunderbird parked behind the building.

"I drop you where he is and you leave me the fuck alone, we got a deal?" he said, lighting his cigarette.

Franny nodded, her stomach in knots. "Thank you."

"Yeah, whatever. Just don't tell me whatever sob story it is you got, I don't need to hear it," he said, throwing the car into gear and rocketing down the street.

* * *

**A/N:** The return of the ever-so-charming Dallas Winston lol. Franny isn't really getting any breaks is she? What do you think Two-Bit will do or say?


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

_**Saturday, May 7, 1966**_

"Where are we?" Franny asked as Dallas pulled the car up to a building downtown. It was the only thing she'd said since they'd left Buck Merril's.

"Upstairs, top floor, last apartment on the right," Dally said. "He's in a poker game up there."

Franny got out of the car and was about to say thank you when he gunned the engine and took off down the street without a word.

Franny turned around and opened the door, then went up the steep flight of stairs in the building. The floors were littered with newspapers and garbage. She hesitated for a second outside the apartment Dally had told her to go to, wondering if he really had taken her to Two-Bit or there was something terrible waiting on the other side. She thought of Gerald, creeping through the jungles, a gun in his hands, thinking at any moment someone would start shooting. She knocked loudly.

A guy with slicked black hair answered the door, wearing blue jeans and a dirty t-shirt.

"Is Two-Bit here?" she asked, wiping her eyes.

He held the door open a little farther, and Franny saw a table in the middle of the room and a half dozen guys sitting around it, smoking and playing cards. She saw Two-Bit pretending to ash his cigarette in someone's hair and laughing, then he looked up and saw her standing in the doorway.

"Franny?" he asked, his brow crinkled in confusion.

She tried to think of something to say, but all she could do was cry.

XXXX

I can't say I've ever been that surprised before. I don't think Ron had ever opened his door to find a seventeen-year-old girl bawling her eyes out and looking a mess. I got up from the table, then turned back around and picked up my cards and took 'em with me. These guys cheat worse than Soda at cards.

"Franny?" I asked again. She was twitchy, like a horse that ain't broke yet. Her skirt was a mess, her hair was all over the place, and she'd been crying so much her nose was red and her eyes were so scrunched up I could barely see 'em. I felt like it'd scare her if I got too close.

"Two-Bit?" she asked, her voice teary.

"Yeah sweetheart, what's wrong?" I asked. Something really was, I ain't never seen anyone in the state she was.

"I was all over looking for you, and your sister sent me to that cowboy's place, and that Dally was just so mean, but he was nice enough to bring me here and then he took off down the street, and I – "

"Hold on now," I said. I moved in front of her and put a hand on each shoulder. "Come on."

I took her out into the hallway, and closed Ron's door a bit.

"You wait right out here, alright?" I said. "I'm gonna go inside, get my jacket, and then we'll go talk somewhere, alright?"

She nodded slowly.

"Right here," I said, backing away from her. I went back inside, shut the door and circled 'round the table. "I'm gonna fold."

"You sure about that?" Ron asked. "You were grinnin' like a Chessy cat after the last deal."

He was right, I had good cards, but I also had a hysterical girl in the hall, and Lord knows what she'd do.

"Nah, I'm out," I said. I collected up my winnings, which weren't too bad, pulled my jacket off the back of the chair and went back into the hall.

"My car's just around the corner," I said. She was shaking, her eyes like a tire with a slow leak, tears just coming out without her even crying 'em. "Here, put my jacket on, you're shakin' like a leaf."

She slipped the leather jacket on and I put a hand on the back of her neck and led her down the stairs. She was quiet, and it was spooking me.

"Which cowboy were you talkin' about?" I asked her, just to get her talking.

"Buck Merril, I think. He answered the door," she said, her voice crackling.

"You went up to Buck's place lookin' for me?" I asked. "Shoot, you got guts, kid."

We'd reached my car and I put her in the passenger seat, then got in the driver's side myself.

"Where to?" I asked her.

She shook her head and began to cry again.

"I don't care," she said. "Anywhere. Away from here. Just anywhere."

XXXX

We ended up at the lake. And don't go getting any bad ideas, it was just the quietest place I could think of. She pretty much cried the whole way there, and I didn't want to ask her what was wrong while I was driving.

We pulled into the same spot as I had the night of our date. It seemed like it'd happened years ago and it was only two weeks.

I was quiet, lit up a cigarette and tried to decide what to do. I ain't very good with crying girls. My sister wasn't big on tears, and I don't think I've ever seen Kathy shed one.

"What's wrong, Franny?" I asked her softly.

She turned her head towards me, her face soaked through with tears.

"It's my brother," she said, having trouble even getting words out she had been crying so hard. "Two-Bit, he might die."

"What happened?"

She closed her eyes and I saw her bite her lip so hard I was expecting blood.

"He stepped on a landmine," she said.

Glory, what do you say to that?

So, I didn't say anything, I just let her cry, and held her to me, patting her hair down an' saying things were gonna be okay. I felt kinda useless.

I lost track of how long I sat there with her crying, and soon her breathing was better, and she'd snaked an arm around my waist, and I just sat there with her. She fell asleep for a little while, and I turned the radio on and let her rest, cuz Lord knows it looked like she needed it.

"Two-Bit?"

I'd been half out myself when her voice startled me awake.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think it feels like? Stepping on a landmine."

"I dunno," I said, actually trying to picture it. It gave me the creeps. "Maybe like nothin' at all. I don't remember getting hit in the head with that two by four. I remember feeling like I was dreaming. Maybe it's like that."

"I hope so," she sighed. "I hope it was just like nothing at all."

"Where is he?" I asked.

"We don't know," she said, her voice catching a little. I rubbed her back a bit, afraid she'd get all hysterical again. "Still in Vietnam, I guess. I don't know where they send you when you're that badly hurt."

"He'll get to come home now," I said hopefully.

"And then what?" she said, sitting up and wiping her eyes. "Sit in a wheelchair forever? Two-Bit, it'd kill him. He's a lot like you and your friends, always moving and doing things. He couldn't sit still if you paid him. I don't even know what he'll do. I'm so scared."

She lay her head down on my chest again and I held her, my hand circling around her back. I could feel her bra strap under my hand and then felt like the world's biggest jackass for having thoughts like that about her when she was so upset.

"Why'd you come find me anyway?" I asked her. I reached across to the glove box and fished out a Bud, popping the top off on the steering wheel. I took a long drink and handed her the bottle, figuring she needed it more than I did.

I wasn't sure she'd actually take it, but she did, screwing up her face when she tasted it.

"Don't tell me you're allergic to hops," I joked. She smiled a little.

"You were the only person I knew. The only friend I had," she said quietly.

"Have," I corrected.

She settled her head back on my shoulder and we passed the beer back and forth and made short work of it.

"I ran out of there like someone was chasing me," she said, telling the story of how she'd heard the news. "I couldn't stand looking at my mom, her eyes … I can't go back there."

"Shoot, you'll have to sometime," I said.

"I could stay out here with you," she said, snuggling down into my shoulder. I took in a deep breath, feeling her body rise and fall with each breath she took.

"Wouldn't be that comfortable out here," I said. "'Sides, we stay out here much longer I'm gonna end up kissing you, and that prob'ly ain't the right thing now."

She slowly moved her head off my shoulder and looked up at me, then put her hand on my face and pulled me down to her. Her lips were soft, and I forgot all about Kathy and her rules and all the bad stuff that'd happened.

We kissed for a few minutes before I felt her slip off my jacket. I had just about decided to stop things when she backed away from me a little, then took off the pink v-neck sweater she was wearing. She moved towards me again, and well, I kinda forgot what I was gonna do. She lifted my t-shirt over my head and took my brains with it.

The front seat of a Plymouth ain't the most comfortable place in the world. We were lying across the seats, and I was folded up like a pretzel. But her skin was hot, her hands running up my back and her lips on my neck. If a tornado'd blown through town I wouldn't have noticed.

I unhooked her bra and tossed it aside, and she didn't make one word of protest, just kissed me harder. I pulled away from her for a second to get more comfortable, kissed her forehead, her temple, and tasted salty tears. It didn't register until I'd found her mouth with mine again. She was crying.

"Franny …" I said. I tried to sit up and take her hand, but she slid it behind my neck, pulling me back down to her. The moonlight hit her face just right as she leaned up, and I saw the fresh tears.

"Franny," I said. I grabbed her wrists in my hands and pulled her up so she was sitting. I tried not to notice the fact she was half naked, but shoot, it wasn't easy.

"No," she said. "Please. I just want to forget for a little while."

She kissed me again and I'll admit it was a pretty weak attempt I made at avoiding it.

"You'll hate yourself tomorrow," I said into her hair.

"No, I won't," she said, running a hand up my arm. "Two-Bit."

I kissed her then – there was something about hearing her say my name that made me do it – and when her hands reached my belt buckle I pretty much gave up trying to stop things.

The cop that pulled up next to us didn't though.

We didn't even see the flashlight shining in the car, not until he banged on the steamed up window. I swore and pulled my shirt on, and Franny gasped and fished around for her shirt, and I rolled the window down when she was presentable.

"You kids move along now," he said. "Park's closed at night."

I usually would've thought of a million smart mouthed things to say, but my mind was kind of elsewhere.

"Sure thing," I said, letting out a breath.

The cop looked over at Franny.

"Are you alright, miss?"

"Fine. Thank you," Franny said, blushing to the roots. He looked at me long and hard before he leaned up and walked back toward his car. I rolled up the window in a hurry.

I looked over at Franny. The moonlight was on her face again and there were tears on her cheeks. I wiped her left cheek with my thumb when she turned to me.

I was gonna hate myself in the morning.

"Come on," I said, starting the car. "I know a place you can stay tonight."

XXXX

My house was dark when we pulled up, and Franny had gotten quiet again since we'd left the park, regretting going so far or regretting we'd gotten interrupted, I didn't know. I took her hand and we climbed the few steps to the porch, and I opened the door.

The house was dark, and I must've tripped over half a dozen things before I found the switch. By that time my mom was in the hallway with a rolling pin and her hair in curlers.

"Two-Bit, Franny," she said. "What on earth are you doing? It's almost three in the morning."

"Franny needs a place to stay."

My mom looked her over, and I saw her brow wrinkle, since Franny did look like a mess. She stepped towards Franny and took her by the arm.

"You have a seat there, sweetheart," my mom said, looking over at me and full of a dozen questions.

"Franny's brother, he got hurt real bad in Vietnam. He was fightin' over there," I said. "Lost his leg. She ain't in the mood to go home just yet."

"Oh, you poor dear," my mom said, sitting down next to Franny on the couch and putting an arm around her. "You can take Grace's room tonight, she's staying at Lori's and won't mind one bit. You come on with me and we'll find you a nightgown to wear, alright?"

I let my mom take charge, taking Franny into Grace's room while chattering a mile a minute to her. My mom came out a few minutes later and shut the door behind her.

"What's her telephone number?" my mom asked.

"I don't think she wants to go home."

"We're not taking her," my mom said. "Keith, that woman has a son that might die a half a world away and doesn't likely know where her daughter's at. The phone number?"

"Klondike five, oh one nine nine," I said, properly shamed.

"Make sure she gets home in the morning," my mom said as she started to dial. She turned back to me, an eyebrow raised. "And Keith? Make sure she's got all her clothes on when you take her."

I was kinda confused about that, but while she was on the phone with Franny's mom I went back to the car to get my jacket and found Franny's bra laying on the seat.

I walked back in the house with it tucked under my jacket and tossed the bundle in my room, then walked over to Grace's door and listened for a second. I could hear muffled crying from inside and didn't know whether to knock or not.

"Her mother was about to call the police. At least she can rest her worry about one of her children tonight. Get some sleep, sweetie," my mom said, laying a hand on my face as she passed me in the hall. "Leave her be."

* * *

**A/N:** So, what do you think? Did Two-Bit make the best move or not?


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders. I'm just taking them for a spin.

* * *

XXXX

**Chapter 13**

_**Sunday, May 8, 1966**_

Franny's eyes were swollen, and opening them took more effort than she wanted to give. She looked around in confusion, unsure about where she was and why. A moment later the why came, and it was like being pounded by a rogue wave at the beach. Gerald had stepped on a landmine.

Her chest tightened, and she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She was tangled in the white bed sheets of an unfamiliar bed – Two-Bit's sister's bed, she supposed. She flung the covers off and turned toward the window, her eyes stinging at the light from the window.

Her clothes were laid out on a chair near the door. She made the bed as neatly as she could went to dress. Her skirt had a torn hem, her pink sweater was smudged with dirt, and her bra was nowhere to be found. She blushed as she remembered the night before.

It had felt good being with Two-Bit. She hadn't gone that far with a boy before, but she wanted to last night. Anything to forget what felt like a gaping hole in her chest. The moment he kissed her, she felt less alone, less scared. She wasn't thinking of explosions and blood and her brother's cries. She thought of Two-Bit's skin and how his lips felt and how in the world she could make those feelings last longer, how she could forget just a few more minutes, a few more hours.

Then the police officer had shown up and ruined it all. When he left, Two-Bit had turned her away. She swallowed a lump in her throat, willing herself not to cry. He rejected her, and made her feel silly for trying to be with him. She wished she could feel something different, even if it was regret or shame. Right now she just felt empty and sad.

She pulled her sweater over her head and tried to smooth her hair down. She felt sick the moment before she opened the door, not sure what she'd find on the other side.

The house was quiet. She crept into the hall, then to the living room. It was crowded with furniture, clothes, knickknacks and all sorts of things. She didn't spot her bra anywhere. She walked down the hall and made a left into a kitchen, with dishes sitting in the sink. She wandered back down the hall to the living room. Two-Bit's room must be the one at the front of the house, closest to his sister's. His mother had come from the hall, so her room must be the one at the back.

Franny went into the bathroom and took stock of herself in the mirror. Her straight shoulder length blonde hair was stringy and tangled, her eyes were baggy, and she was pale and sick looking. She washed her face and combed through her hair with her fingers.

She came out into the living room again and was startled by Two-Bit's door opening. He stood in the doorway, a low slung pair of jeans the only thing he was wearing.

"Thought I heard noises," he said.

"Hi," she said quietly.

The silence hung between them and Franny blushed. She couldn't take her gaze off him.

"Where's your mom?" she asked.

"Church most likely," he said. "Won't be back for awhile. She told me to make sure you got home okay. She called your mom last night."

"She did?"

"Just so she wouldn't worry. Somehow I think she must've anyhow," Two-Bit said.

Franny smoothed down the front of her skirt self consciously, then crossed her arms in front of her.

"Oh, that reminds me," Two-Bit said, ducking back into his room. "Found this in the car."

He came out holding her bra, and she felt like she must've blushed to the roots. She thought about trying to stuff it in her skirt pocket, but that would've drawn more attention. She said a mumbled thanks.

"You sure you're okay?"

She took a deep breath. "As okay as I'm gonna be."

"I'll get dressed and drive you home."

He stood in the doorway looking at her, and she watched his chest rise and fall with his breathing.

"Come here," he said. She was rooted to the spot, and he took three steps to her, taking her hand, and pulling her to him. He circled his arms around her and she flung her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry for what happened to your brother."

A few tears escaped, but she held the rest back. "Thank you. For everything, for talking to me and letting me stay."

He let her go slowly, bent his head down and kissed her.

She felt like she was about to fall off a cliff. She just wanted to lose her head, scream at the top of her lungs and collapse in a heap of tears.

Instead, she kissed him back as hard as she could, tangled her hands up into his hair and pulled him closer.

He kissed her back, letting his lips trail along her jaw, kiss down her neck and the hollow of her collarbone. His tongue darted between her lips and she forgot for just a minute.

She bent her head back, and couldn't stop the sob that escaped from her.

She would not cry. She wouldn't. This couldn't stop.

But it did.

Two-Bit pulled her against his chest, his hands weaving into her hair and holding her against him. She choked on another sob.

"Franny - "

"Don't," she managed to squeak out. "Don't say anything."

She leaned against him, for how long she didn't know, trying to catch her breath and regain some kind of control. She stepped away from him a moment later.

He stared at her, then nodded very slightly. He went into his room, and when he came out, he'd put on a t-shirt.

"We better get you home," he said.

XXXX

They pulled up in front of Franny's house a short time later.

"I don't wanna go in there," she said.

"You might be missing out on some good news if you don't," Two-Bit said. "And I bet your mom and sister were worried."

Franny picked at the torn hem of her skirt. "What are you gonna do if Kathy hears about this?"

"Don't worry about that," Two-Bit said. "Kathy'll understand."

She inhaled sharply. Yeah, sure she would.

"Well. Thanks for ... helping me and everything," she said. She was the world's biggest fool. She never should've gone hunting for him. This was always going to end badly. She was chasing after a boy who would think nothing of clobbering someone else just because, and her brother was clobbered half way around the world. Somehow, it all seemed attached to each other, and she almost was angry at Two-Bit for it.

"I'll come find you at school. You gonna be okay goin' in there?" he asked, nodding toward her house.

She looked over at her house and sighed, then shook her head. "I have to be."

"Let me know if you need anything."

She nodded again, then got out of his car. She expected him to drive away, but his car was still sitting there when her mother opened the door and hugged her, pulling her inside in a wave of tears.

XXXX

_**Monday, May 9, 1966**_

Monday morning I was pretty surprised to see Franny at school. I caught a glimpse of her in the hallway – her hair is hard to miss – and she looked like a walking zombie. The news had made the rounds, and some kids were whispering, a couple pointing, and I could tell she knew they were talking about her. I guess when people start talking about you around school you start picking up on it pretty easy.

I caught up with her in the hall during lunch.

"Any news?" I asked.

She shook her head. "My mom's still trying to get information from the Marines, but no one knows anything. The telegram said more news would follow, but we haven't heard."

"Probably a lotta stuff to organize before they go sending news," I said. "You wanna go grab some eats?"

She looked at me for a second and shook her head.

"I wouldn't want to break the peace treaty," she said, her words biting.

"What?"

"Just because my brother gets his leg blown off doesn't mean your Kathy's going to change her mind about me," she said. "Evie either."

"I'll talk to them," I said.

"Two-Bit, stop it," Franny said angrily, turning around and looking at me with a stare. "You decided to make it this way, not me, you can't just change the rules when you want. You broke it off, remember?"

"What are you talkin' about?" I asked her. I figured she got that I wasn't gonna listen to Kathy after all that'd happened. Maybe she thought I was just pitying her or something.

"You could've told Kathy you were going to keep being my friend, keep seeing me, but you didn't. To keep me safe or because you wanted her more, I don't know and I don't care," Franny said. "You made a choice and didn't even ask me, then broke up with me in front of everyone. A landmine didn't change that."

"I still care," I said.

Her face softened for a second. She looked at me, like she was in physical pain, then turned and walked down the hall. It was like everything that happened in the car at that lake was some kind of dream.

XXXX

Franny left school for the bus, and was not in the mood to see Evie lurking at the side door of the school. She walked past her quickly and was dismayed to find the girl was in step right beside her.

"Slow up," she said.

"No," Franny answered.

Evie grabbed her arm and Franny considered shoving her back sprawling on the pavement, but Evie looked stronger than her.

"What?" Franny asked.

"Is it true what they're sayin'?"

"About what?" Franny asked, knowing full well what she meant.

"That your brother almost got killed in the war?"

Franny took in a deep breath, not wanting to hear it put like that.

"He stepped on a landmine and lost his leg. We don't know anything else," she said quietly. "Can you please move?"

Evie moved over a little and Franny charged past.

"Well, is he gonna be okay?" Evie asked.

"We don't know anything," Franny said. "Would you just leave me alone? I got other things to worry about that you and Kathy upset because I saw Two-Bit after I heard."

"You saw Two-Bit?" Evie asked.

Franny whirled around. "Yes! Yes I saw him Saturday night! I found out my brother might die, and I might never see him again, and I needed a friend. I realized I didn't have any – Two-Bit was the closest I got until you two took him away from me. So I went to him, I needed him, I needed someone, and nobody is going to make me feel bad about that!"

She turned around again, walking toward the bus stop, tears blinding her.

She heard Evie's steps behind her.

"Look, Kathy's my friend. She just about burst a blood vessel when she saw you, and then Two-Bit stood her up. You can't blame her for feeling ... territorial," Evie said.

"I didn't come here to mess everything up," Franny said. "I didn't even _want_ to come here."

"She thought the lipstick on your locker would scare you off. Turns out you don't shake so easy." Evie gave her a half-smile, and Franny realized the girl was paying her a compliment. She was trying to make nice.

"I don't want to be angry at you," Franny said, not able to stop her eyes from weeping. "I just wanna focus on my brother."

Evie looked at her and nodded. "From now on, I stay out of it. You and Kathy can deal if you have a beef."

Franny nodded at her, then turned back and walked toward the bus stop.

"I'm sorry about your brother," Evie called out. "I hope he's okay."

XXXX

Kathy's hair salon was downtown, and I found her inside at the register. She looked at me kinda suspicious when I walked in – I never go down to her job.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Need to talk to you," I said. "Got a minute?"

She walked out through the back of the shop into the alley and she bummed a cigarette off me and lit up.

"What's on your mind?"

"Franny," I said honestly. I saw Kathy's face tense up.

"What about her?" she asked, an edge to her voice.

"Her brother stepped on a landmine in Vietnam … got his damned leg blown off," I said.

Kathy's face paled and she almost dropped her cigarette, which kinda surprised me.

"What?"

"Her brother, he's in the Marines, and I guess he got in some hot water," I said. "They don't know much more than that, but she went to pieces when she heard."

"Oh," Kathy said.

"She came and found me Saturday night and we talked some, had her stay at my place," I said.

"They don't know if he's gonna be okay?" Kathy asked.

I shook my head, kind of surprised she was focused on that rather than the fact Franny stayed at my house.

"I want you to lay off her," I said. "She's a nice kid, and she don't got many friends around here thanks to you and Evie … thanks to the Socs … thanks to me."

"What about us?"

"There's always an us Kath, you know that," I said honestly. "We've known each other so long we'll never get too far from one another. You're still one of the tuffest chicks in these parts, I ain't giving that up easy."

She smiled at me. "You mean it?"

"'Course I do," I said. "But Franny needs a friend, and I'm it."

"You're still gonna date her though, aren't you?"

Kathy looked scared for a minute, and it worried me. She never looks like that.

I nodded a little. "I might. Don't think she's so keen to, though. Between me treating her like dirt and what's happened with her brother, I don't think she's got dates on her mind."

Kathy took a drag of her cigarette. "Well, maybe if you're not busy this Friday we could see a movie or something."

"Or something," I agreed. See, it's moments like this I remember why I'm seeing her. She ran a hand through her hair and then leaned in and kissed me, real nice.

"Two-Bit, I do miss you," she sighed.

I felt like I'd just brokered a deal to end the Vietnam war.

XXXX

_**Tuesday, May 10, 1966 **_

Franny was surprised to see Two-Bit's car outside of her house the next morning when she left for school.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Come to give you a ride if you want it," he said, opening the passenger door.

"What about Kathy?" she asked.

"What about her?" he said. "You're my friend, that's that."

She smiled at him, for real this time, and climbed into the passenger seat.

They road to school without much conversation – she got the feeling he didn't know what else to say about Gerald, so he didn't say anything. They walked in the side doors together, and Two-Bit walked with her to her locker. She followed him to his own locker on the way to her first class.

His own locker was scrawled with threats.

"Well now, someone's left me some artwork," he said loudly. She looked around and saw little groups of Socs smiling and laughing, but the biggest laughs were coming from Dave Brubaker and friends. Christine was leaning against a locker, her arms crossed in front of her. She was rolling her eyes every time the boys made comments

"I'm kinda disappointed there's no picture," he said, taking Franny's book bag and searching through it until he found a black marker. He put pen to locker and began drawing a car.

"This here is a prime condition GTO," he said, adding the touches of a wheel rolling away from the car. "And here's its owner."

Two-Bit drew a picture of a monkey to the delight of the crowd.

"Funny, Mathews, you won't be laughing later on," he said.

"Can't laugh when I'm kickin' your ass," he said.

"Like you did that night in the alley?" he asked, setting off a chorus of laughter from his friends..

Two-Bit stood up slowly, and Franny saw the change in his expression. The crowd was oohing and Franny saw Evie and Steve hanging around the fringes. She felt her stomach flip over, wondering if there was going to be a fight in the hall. Why did these boys have to keep doing this?

Two-Bit stepped over in front of Brubaker. "Anytime you wanna go."

Brubaker cussed him out, and Franny's eyes widened as she saw Two-Bit take a step towards him.

"Break it up, gentlemen!" a loud voice said. Franny saw the assistant principal walk into the crowd. "Anyone who is still here watching this circus in ten seconds will be in detention."

The crowd scattered pretty fast, but Franny held back and waited. Two-Bit slowly stepped away from the Soc, and Brubaker started walking down the hall with his friends, his arm around Christine.

"Mr. Mathews, would you care to explain?" the vice principal asked, gesturing to the locker.

"Well, I was always jealous I never got into art class, and the spirit moved me to create a work of art here in our fair school," he said, a giant smile on his face.

"Detention, Mr. Mathews," he said. "After school today. Where you'll learn about an amazing invention called soap and water."

Two-Bit turned to Franny. "Guess you're on your own for a ride home."

Franny sighed. "You could have avoided it."

"Nah," Two-Bit said with a laugh. "Not really."

* * *

**A/N:** So, are things really settled with Kathy? And what's going to happen with Brubaker? Another prank? Something more serious?


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders.

* * *

XXXX

**Chapter 14**

**_Tuesday, May 10, 1966_**

Franny came up the steps and noticed Lindy wasn't there. She always got to the house before she did. In a panic, she flung open the door and rushed inside and found her mother in the kitchen.

"A Marine Corps Colonel called me at work today," she said, with no preamble. "He had news on Gerald."

"Is he okay?" Franny asked.

"He's going to make it, I think," her mother said, her voice not as excited as it should've been considering the words. "But he's got a long road ahead of him."

"Tell me everything they said," Franny instructed.

So she heard about the fact he stepped on the mine, how he almost bled to death before being helicoptered to a base, how the doctors had tried to save his leg, but couldn't. So they had amputated it, above the knee.

Now there was just the waiting.

"He could get an infection that could kill him," her mother said. "But he's awake and talking and he's okay right now, just very weak."

"Can he call us? Can he come home?"

"I don't know," she said. "He can write, I suppose."

"What about coming home?" Franny asked.

"They don't know when. He needs some time to heal before they can move him back here, likely to Balboa," her mother said. She stopped cleaning the kitchen for a minute. "Your father called an hour ago."

"What did he say?"

"That he'll keep us informed if he hears anything before we do. I promised the same," she said. "I-I'm afraid I may have said some harsh things Franny, so don't be alarmed if he doesn't call at his usual time."

"What kind of harsh things?"

Her mother sighed. "That's between me and your father."

The same party line she'd heard for over a year. Even though she could always hear the yelling and the fights, they never told her just what they fought about. Maybe it was something she could've done something about.

"It's always that way," Franny sighed. "Can I write to Gerald? Did they say where he was?"

"No," her mother said. "I don't know."

Franny started towards the stairs and slowly walked up them to her room. She found Lindy crying in the closet.

"What's wrong, peanut?" she asked, crawling in the closet next to her and shutting the door.

"She was yelling on the phone," Lindy sniffed. "It scared me."

Lindy hadn't shared a room with Franny back in Pasadena. The nights the fighting was the worst she would sneak into Franny's room and lie down on the floor to sleep, a ratty old blanket in her fist. Franny used to wake up in the morning and almost step on her little sister.

"She's not mad at you," Franny said.

"Franny, is Gerry gonna die?" Lindy asked.

Franny gathered Lindy up in her arms. "Mom says no, and I believe her. Soon Gerry'll come home with us and be as good as new."

"But his leg's gone," Lindy whispered. "That's not good as new."

No. It wasn't.

XXXX

_**Thursday, May 12, 1966**_

Franny found Two-Bit entertaining some of his greaser friends in the hallway before class started on Thursday. She stood off to the side, not wanting to interrupt, but someone nudged him and he turned around.

"Hey, Franny," he said. "What's the news?"

"My mom talked to someone. They said the biggest risk is infection right now. We still haven't heard from him and we don't know much more about what happened. They said he almost bled to death before they got him to the hospital," Franny said with a sigh.

Two-Bit slung an arm around her shoulder. "Me and a couple of friends are goin' over to Jay's after school, you wanna come?"

Franny looked at him curiously. "What friends?"

"Steve, Soda's girl Sandy and Evie," he said.

Franny raised an eyebrow at him. "Evie? I don't know, Two-Bit."

"Well, you won't know if you don't go," Two-Bit said.

She looked around at the grey lockers, students milling about and talking between classes. She could go - if Evie was mean to her or Kathy showed up, she could just catch the bus out of there and go home.

"Okay," she answered.

"Meet you at your locker at final bell if I don't get detention," he said with a grin.

XXXX

Franny waited at her locker for a few minutes, but was relieved to see Two-Bit was on time and not sitting in detention somewhere. He seemed to enjoy going, and Franny didn't know why. At her old school, detention was sitting in a quiet room with all the other guilty parties, doing homework for an hour until you were dismissed. It was boring. She suspected Two-Bit kept it otherwise. They didn't have detention for detention, and she wondered how the teachers here ever got him to do anything.

She smoothed her skirt down before leaving her books in her locker and grabbing a sweater.

"You look nervous," he said.

She shrugged a little and walked next to him until they were outside. It was a grey day, threatening to rain, but not doing it.

"I'd drive, but my car wouldn't start this morning," Two-Bit said. "Steve ain't workin' today, so he'll be doing the honours."

Before they could reach the lot, they heard a voice boom out across the school grounds.

"Mathews!"

"Uh oh," Franny said under her breath. She saw Dave Brubaker crossing the lawn with a few friends, Christine hurrying to catch up with him.

"Ain't you guys gotta get back to the zoo before six? I hear that's when they close the cage doors back up again," Two-Bit said.

"You wanna go?" Brubaker said, stepping forwards.

"Anytime," Two-Bit said, stepping forwards himself and throwing his half-smoked cigarette on the grass.

A small crowd started to gather, and the Socs were cheering Brubaker on. Some of the greasers around the parking lot wandered over, and Franny felt her heart pounding in her chest. This wasn't right. They were facing each other down for no reason.

"Right now, come on!" Brubaker said, stepping back and pushing up the sleeves of his button down shirt.

Two-Bit went to take off his jacket.

"No, Two-Bit, don't do this," Franny pleaded. "He's trying to cause trouble, let's just go."

It was a request falling on deaf ears. He handed his jacket to her, and she grabbed his arm.

"Two-Bit, please," she said tearfully. "Don't do this. I already have enough to worry about without you getting hurt!"

"Ain't got much faith in my fighting ability, huh?" he said with a grin.

"That's not the point!" Franny said. But he wasn't listening, he and Brubaker circling each other now like caged animals, the crowd cheering them on.

Franny looked across the circle at Christine Weston, who was yelling at Dave to stop. Their gazes locked for a moment and Franny spread her hands out – there was nothing she could do. Christine looked across at her and in that moment Franny knew she would never have to worry about the girl bothering her again. They were on the same side of a ridiculous battle – the sidelines.

Franny moaned as Brubaker stepped in to punch Two-Bit. He ducked it and hit Dave in the stomach. Brubaker doubled over, then rushed Two-Bit, tackling him at the waist and bringing him down.

Two-Bit rolled off his back as Brubaker tried to kick him, and swept his legs out from him. He stood over Brubaker, one knee on the grass and grabbed the front of his shirt. Franny closed her eyes as Two-Bit was about to swing for Brubaker's face, and opened them when she heard the principal's voice yelling.

The crowd started to part as Mr. Casing and some teachers came into the fray, pulling the two boys apart.

"That is enough of this fighting. Both of you, detention all next week after school!" Mr. Casing, said. "Now both of you shake hands, then move along. Go on!"

The crowd thinned out a little at the lame ending of the swift fight. Two-Bit and Dave moved towards each other.

"We're not done, Mathews," Brubaker in a low voice that made Franny shudder.

"Name the time and place," Two-Bit answered.

They shook hands feebly. It was a ridiculous request. Those two boys didn't mean it at all.

"Both of you get on home," Mr. Casing said. "Either one of you is in a fight on school grounds again before the end of the year and you're suspended."

The crowds thinned out as the Socs moved away, and Two-Bit got his jacket from Franny and headed over to Steve's car. Franny lingered behind, her legs like jelly. She felt sick to her stomach.

"You coulda took him easy," Steve said.

"No kiddin'," Two-Bit said.

"Hey!"

They turned around to see Christine Weston nervously walking over.

"Dave gave me a message for you," she said, looking over at Franny, almost apologetically. "He says to show up at the park a block from Jay's Saturday night, nine o'clock."

"He wants a rumble, he gets one," Two-Bit said nodding.

"Not a rumble. He said no one's friends get involved, one-on-one," she said. "And no weapons."

"You tell him I'll be there," Two-Bit said.

Christine hesitated a second, then turned around and walked back across the grass.

"Two-Bit, can't you just let this go?" Franny asked, her stomach still in knots.

"No way," Steve said, slinging an arm around Evie. "This is his chance to shut down King Soc once and for all. They rumble and get it done. Best man wins."

"And then what? What happens if Two-Bit wins and Brubaker decides the best man didn't win? What if Two-Bit loses, and you decide to go after him? This is never going to end," Franny said desperately.

"Not until they get the message," Two-Bit said.

"Can't you guys think of something other than fighting?" Franny said choking back tears. "For God's sake, you're not even fighting over anything. There's people getting killed over bigger things and I can't take much more of people getting hurt for no reason …"

Two-Bit put out a hand onto her shoulder. She looked at him with a pained expression.

"I ain't gonna get hurt, don't you worry," he said with a smile. "Come on, we still got time to head to Jay's before we gotta get you home."

She looked at Steve and Evie, waiting by his car. Two-Bit's knuckles were scraped and she could still see the stitches in the back of his head when he turned around. This was all wrong. They were wrong.

"I'm not hungry," Franny said, her mouth dry. "I think I'll just head home."

XXXX

_**Saturday, May 14, 1966**_

Franny was nowhere to be found Friday at school.

I'd seen the fear in her eyes when she was watching us get ready to fight. She was scared, but underneath it all, she was angry. I kind of felt like I was scraping the surface of something I didn't wanna scrape. I had to fight these guys. We ain't got much but a rep, and there's no way I'm letting some lousy mouth breather take that away.

Word of my fight with Brubaker leaked out in record time.

Rules were, when a one-on-one fight was called, guys would show up with their friends, but only the two involved would duke it out, unless something happened on the sidelines to bring others into it. Shepard's gang would show if I needed 'em to, but I figured our outfit was enough to back me up in case something went haywire. Brubaker had a few pretty big guys on his side – football players – but I was confident we could take 'em if it came to that.

I'd scouted out the lot near Jay's on Saturday morning – I always like to see what I'm up against. It was a plain park just off the main road, only businesses nearby. It'd be secluded enough that the fuzz wouldn't show, far enough from the main drag that we wouldn't draw in any unwanted attention. There was nothin' too dangerous in the park neither.

The guys were primed and ready to go – it'd been awhile since we'd had a good skin rumble, even a small one like this. We'd rumbled the Shepard gang a few times in the past, but things had been going well the past few months, no grudges or scores to settle. Just with the Socs and that score never settles.

"You all be careful," Darry said as we sat around the living room on Saturday evening. "The cops show, you get out of there fast."

Darry couldn't come, he was working his second job down at the warehouse, and I knew he was sorry to miss it.

"Shoot, this fight ain't gonna last more than a few seconds," I said, taking a gulp of my beer. "Brubaker'll show up and take a few swings, go down like a ton of bricks and it's all over."

"Don't get too cocky," Darry said with a rare grin. "I'll see y'all later."

"I'm gonna head over to the Dingo, you guys wanna come?" I asked. We had at least three hours to kill before the fight.

"I'll come," Johnny said.

"Me too, I'm starvin'," Dally said.

Dally'd borrowed Bucks T-bird – my car's still not starting – and we drove down to the Dingo. It's right near the overpass, and on the North side of town, so it's a greaser only hangout. Jay's was a bit more mixed, but it was aways down the ribbon. Rusty's and The Way Out were a lot further South and were considered Soc hangouts, so we didn't bother ever going that far down the restless ribbon.

We were the centre of attention thanks to the fight happening that night. Curly Shepard was taking bets on how long it'd take me to knock the guy out – Curly may be a dumb hood, but he knows which side to bet on. Word had it Shepard had gone on some big run down to Texas with Ruby Merril, and Curly was making like he was King Shit of the Shepard gang.

"You guys mind dropping me down on East Archer," I asked.

"What for?" Dally asked, lighting up a Kool.

"Got something for Franny," I said, feeling the box in my pocket.

"The crying broad?" Dally asked, both his eyebrows raised. "Man, I used to think you had taste, that kid'd send me to a early grave."

"She's a nice girl," I said. "That's more n' I can say for most of the girls you bring around. How is Sylvia anyway?"

Dally looked at me shifty-eyed. He and Sylvia were as on and off as Kathy and I were, but for different reasons. Dal was always accusing her of cheating on him, thinking she was playing him like a chump. I don't know about that. The girl had stars in her eyes when it came to Dallas, and I couldn't figure it out. Sylvia was a pretty girl and had more than one guy lined up for her, but she only had eyes for Dallas, and he ain't no Paul Newman.

Dally dropped me on the corner and took off with Johnny, probably to cruise the ribbon 'til the fight was on. I wandered down the street until I reached Franny's house, then went up to the door and knocked.

I'll admit I was kinda nervous her mom would answer the door. I don't know what you say to a woman who doesn't know if her kid's gonna live.

Of course, I jinxed myself thinking that, because her mother did answer.

"Two-Bit," she said. "It's nice to see you again."

"Same here," I said. "I'm, uh, sorry to hear about your son, Franny told me about what happened."

"Thank you," she said quietly. "And thank you and your mother for taking care of Francine that night. I know she needed a friend."

Oh boy, if her mother only knew my idea of being a friend meant feeling up her daughter. She invited me in, and I sat down on a well worn brown couch.

"Francine's just upstairs, I'll go get her."

I got up as soon as her mom left the room and wandered around. I hadn't gotten much of a chance to look around when I was here before. There was a television and a picture on it of their family.

Her dad had greying blond hair and glasses and looked like any old guy you'd see on a street. Her mom looked younger than she did now even though the picture couldn't have been that old. She was smiling at least. Franny looked like a picture herself, with her blonde hair a bit shorter than it was now and a smile on her face.

Her brother wore a uniform and a smile, his hair all shorn off, but just as blond as Franny's was. He seemed like a tough guy, he was taller than everyone else in the picture, looked to have a decent build. I couldn't even imagine what it'd be like to be hurt like he was.

I sat back down on the couch when I heard the footsteps on the stairs.

"Two-Bit?" Franny asked. "What are you doing here?"

I looked over at her and was kinda surprised. She was wearing blue jeans, first time I'd ever seen her in anything that wasn't a skirt. She was wearing the same pink sweater she had the night at the lake, and all I could think about was how she looked without it.

Her little sister had crept down the stairs and was sitting on the landing, prime eavesdropping property. I nodded my head towards the door, and we went out onto the front porch.

"I brought you a little something," I said, taking the box out of my pocket and tossing it to her.

She looked up at me with those dish plate eyes as she sat down on one of the old chairs that was out there. She flipped open the box lid.

"Two-Bit, it's gorgeous," she said, taking the little chain out. It had a small eagle charm on it.

"I heard on the radio that's a Marine thing, the eagle," I said. "Thought you might want to wear it for your brother or something."

"Two-Bit, I can't take this, it must've cost a fortune," she said, trying to shove the box back toward me.

"I got a discount," I said. Five finger.

"Are you sure?"

"You ain't gonna make me feel bad about getting you a present now, are you?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

She smiled a little and snaked the chain around her neck, but couldn't fasten it herself. She asked me to. I'm all thumbs with that kinda thing.

Her skin was warm and I was distracted by that and the clasp and it took a few good minutes before I hooked it on.

"Will you stay for awhile?" she asked.

"Can't," I said. "Fight over at the park, remember?"

"You're going?" she asked in surprised.

"'Course I'm going, why wouldn't I?" I asked, just as surprised back.

"You know he's just egging you on," Franny said. "If you show up and there's a fight, someone's going to get hurt. It won't settle anything."

"Sure it will, it's how things work in these parts. And there's no if about it, there's gonna be a fight," I said easily.

She looked away from me, and I felt that feeling about scraping things I didn't want to.

"It ain't gonna be nothin'," I said, trying to reassure her. "We'll throw some punches and get everything out and whoever comes out on top, comes out on top, and that's the end of it."

"Is it really? Who comes up next after Dave Brubaker? There's always someone there to take his spot and there's always someone there to take yours!" she said. "Why can't you just walk away, why can't you just let this go?"

"And let the guy get away with having me beat near to death in that alley?" I asked, in shock she even suggested it.

"That was a month ago," she said.

"That ain't the point," I said, louder than I meant to. We both looked over to the window, but no one was looking. "It don't matter whether it was a month ago or a day ago, I gotta get even."

"You took his car."

"A prank, a joke," I said. "This is serious."

"So's lying in a hospital," she said, a few tears escaping.

I chuckled a little. "You really must think I'm a crap fighter."

She did smile a little at that. "No. I just don't think he's going to play fair."

"That's why you bring your friends, back up," I said. "Look, nothing's gonna happen."

She looked over at me, and I could see she didn't believe it. I saw other things there too, but I didn't want to start thinking about what they were.

"I'll see you later," I said, kissing her cheek and leaving her on the porch. It was eight thirty and I had a fight to win.

* * *

**A/N:** And the fight is about to begin. I'm taking bets - Brubaker or Two-Bit for the win?


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders.

* * *

XXXX

**Chapter 15**

**_Saturday, May 14, 1966_**

Franny wandered inside, not sure what to do with herself. She couldn't believe he was just going to go fight. It was easy to understand the ego-based reason behind it, but aside from that, there just wasn't much reason to.

Franny called out to her mom in the kitchen. "I'm going to meet Two-Bit at the Tastee-Freez, alright?"

"I thought he was here?"

"He ... had had to go run an errand for his mother," Franny lied. "I'm going to meet him there."

Her mother said okay – she might not usually, but of course she was pretty distracted now – and Franny grabbed a light coat and took off down the stairs and out into the night.

Peoria Street, or the Ribbon as Two-Bit had called it, was at least nine or ten blocks away, and she didn't know if she'd make it in time. She ran as fast as she could, her tennis shoes virtually soundless on the pavement. She reached Peoria completely breathless and unsure which direction to go.

She knew where the Dingo, and the shopping centre was, but she wasn't sure where Jay's was. On a gamble she turned left and walked down Peoria.

The street was filled with stores and restaurants, and cars cruised around the street, most filled with rowdy kids about her age. She spotted Jay's, then ducked down a side street and saw the park.

She crossed the street and headed towards the huge grassy expanse, not sure where to look. There were trees, some buildings and businesses backing onto the park, and she didn't see any crowds yet.

She turned a corner by a hot dog stand and cut down a back alley, mindless of any possible danger aside from what Two-Bit could be in. She needed to talk to him, she needed to get him to see this wasn't helping anyone. If she could stop him from going through with it, everything would be okay. Everything had to be okay.

She came out near a stand of trees in the park, a few cars parked along the side. She spotted a blonde girl with a cigarette leaning against one of the cars and figured maybe she was in the right place. She was about to ask her when she paused.

"Oh, no," she said to herself.

The girl finished her cigarette, then noticed Franny nearby. Franny looked down and started walking toward a clearing in the distance.

"Hey!"

She didn't want to turn around.

"Slow up, alright," Kathy said, trying to catch up with her. "Come to watch the fight?"

"No, I didn't come to watch," Franny said. "Do you know where he is? I need to find him."

"I'm sure you do," she said, looking at Franny up and down. Kathy walked closer, her heels clipping the pavement like gunfire.

"Look, I don't want any trouble, I just need to talk to him," she said.

She saw Kathy's face change a little. "I ain't here to give you any trouble, Goldilocks. I'm waitin' on him too, after the fight. I wanna talk to you."

"About what? If it's about Two-Bit, I don't have the time," Franny said.

"It ain't about him," she said, her voice serious. "Your brother, he's hurt bad?"

"Yeah," Franny said, not quite sure where this was going. Kathy walked back toward her car. Franny paused a moment, then followed.

"Was he drafted?" Kathy asked.

"Into the Marines?" Franny asked in surprise. "No, he joined up himself. He wanted to be a Marine, I guess. I thought he was crazy; I still do. Why are you asking me this?"

Kathy looked at the ground and suddenly she didn't seem that much harder or tougher than Franny herself. In fact, she looked like she wanted to cry but didn't really know how.

"My brother Bill, he got an order to report for induction," she said, her cheeks streaked with tears.

"Oh." Franny walked over to her slowly and stood near her at the car. "Well, he still might not go."

Kathy looked over at her. "He _wants_ to go. He thinks it's a kick they wants him, can't wait for his physical."

"He could fail it," Franny said.

"You ain't never seen Bill, then," Kathy said with a wry laugh.

"Well, the whole war could be over by the time he gets there," Franny said, her voice picking up confidence. "Well, there's the physical, and then boot camp training. It could all be done by the time he's ready to go."

"I guess," Kathy said.

They stood there in silence for a few minutes.

"Does he have a record?" Franny asked.

Kathy laughed. "He's from the Northside, of course he does. It's probably why they picked him."

"Maybe they won't let him go, sometimes they won't if you've been in jail, that's what I heard," Franny said hopefully. She really did hope too. What was the use of having everyone's brothers over there fighting for something that she didn't even understand. It wasn't their country.

She looked at Kathy's profile – she really was a pretty girl under all that make up – and suddenly Franny didn't hate her anymore.

"You're not like I imagined," Franny said shortly.

"What? I ain't breathing fire and stuff like that?" Kathy asked with a small laugh. "No. I just got bigger fish to fry than you now."

"It was you that wrote on my locker," Franny stated.

Kathy nodded. "Figured you'd let him go pretty easy. I was wrong."

Franny was quiet.

"He was right, though," Kathy said suddenly.

"About what?"

"You're a decent kid."

Franny almost smiled at her. She heard some yelling echoing off some buildings around them and finally remembered her mission.

"Do you know where Two-Bit is?" Franny asked. "I've gotta stop him."

"From fighting?" Kathy asked, a smile tugging the corners of her mouth, which was really quite pretty, although the red lipstick she wore only made Franny think of one thing. "Franny, you're never gonna stop him. Never gonna change him, either. This is what he is. He fights and runs his mouth, and he's been like that ever since I've known him. Second grade."

"But he can't get hurt, not now!" she said, her voice desperate.

Kathy looked over at her, and the smile she gave was almost motherly.

"He ain't gonna get that hurt, he's tough and fights like hell," she said proudly. "But he's not gonna listen. It's the way it is here, it's all we got."

Franny stood up. "I still have to find him."

"Southwest corner of the park," Kathy finally said. "But it won't make a difference if you go or not!"

Franny didn't really hear the last of what Kathy said, she'd already jumped up and started running through the trees.

XXXX

She reached the area the fight was taking place in right as all the parties involved arrived. She spotted Two-Bit with Steve and Sodapop, and she even saw Ponyboy and Johnny there – quiet Johnny. She didn't see how he thought this was okay.

The blond – Dally – was there too, but then again, she figured he lived for nights like this. There were other boys there, ones she didn't recognise, but there were no girls anywhere to be seen. Probably waiting by cars some distance away like Kathy.

Franny tried calling Two-Bit's name it get his attention, but the yelling of the crowd drowned her out. Some of the greaser boys hollered at her as she moved through the crowd, trying to get close to Two-Bit.

She saw him toss away a beer can and make his way into the circle, along with Dave Brubaker.

"Two-Bit!" she yelled over the crowd. He looked over at her, concern flashing across his face, but when Brubaker yelled something at him, his attention was drawn right back to him, and Two-Bit flung his jacket off to the side.

A second later Brubaker charged at Two-Bit, and the fight was on.

Franny screamed and put a had over her mouth.

"Stop! You have to stop!" she cried. She tried to push her way into the crowd to stop him, but someone grabbed her by the arms and pulled her back. She was startled to see Johnny pulling her out of the circle.

"I have to stop him," Franny said crying. "He could get really hurt."

"It ain't your fight to stop," Johnny said.

Here he was recovering from some kind of beating, looking for all the world like a nice boy, and even he wanted Two-Bit to do this.

She turned back to the fight and saw Brubaker kicking at Two-Bit, who rolled and managed to get up and sock him in the stomach. Brubaker landed a hard right to Two-Bit's face and Franny saw blood and closed her eyes. She wandered over to the nearest tree and sat down on the grass, trying to push the sounds out of her head. She put her head down on her knees and cried.

XXXX

"You had enough!" I asked. Brubaker was on the ground, turtled up and trying to protect his head. He at least had a broken nose, what with all the blood, and his friends were already taking off without him.

He groaned as he rolled over, and I pulled him up by the collar, ready to hit him again if he came at me. But he was done for the night and our grudge sure as hell better be done too.

"It's the end of it, you hear," I said when I was close enough to him. I kicked him before I walked away, the gang all there waiting. Dally'd got into a scuffle with one of the football players and was sporting a black eye, but everyone else had kept it clean and watched.

"Two-Bit," Johnny said. He pulled me over and pointed to a sycamore tree, and I saw Franny sitting at the bottom of it.

"She didn't beat it outta here, I guess," I said, my lip aching. I had a black eye and a split lip, and was sore all over, but I felt pretty good. I was a little nervous what my ribs were gonna feel like when the high of the fight wore off though - Brubaker tried to get at me right where I was hurt before.

"Fuckin' broad's like a sprinkler system," Dally said, gesturing to Franny, who was crying.

"You need a ride?" Steve asked me.

"Nah, saw someone waitin' on me," I said, nodding to where I'd seen Kathy's car earlier.

"I'll stick around over at Jay's a bit," he said quietly, looking over at Franny. He was probably thanking his lucky stars that Evie never showed up at any fight he got into. She cried her eyes out once when he got hauled in by the cops, and he never forgot it.

The gang cleared out slowly, and I wandered over to Franny's tree and sat down next to her – that took some doing, because I was already stiffening up from bruises.

"You gonna cry all night or congratulate me?" I said, keeping my voice cheerful.

"Congratulate you?" she asked, raising her head up. She didn't seem surprised at the blood or anything and for a second I felt guilty that she'd gotten used to seeing it.

"Yeah, I won. For all his talk Dave Brubaker can't throw a punch worth shit," I said smiling. It hurt to smile.

"He seemed to throw enough to do all that," she said sarcastically.

"Damn, two punches, that's all," I said. "But I won."

"Well, good for you," Franny said bitterly. "I bet you feel like a real man now."

"Hey, come on now," I said. "That ain't fair. You were the one worried I was gonna get hurt and I'm perfectly fine."

She shook her head. "That isn't the point Two-Bit, and you know it."

"What is the point Francine?" I asked, my voice serious.

She looked over at me and leaned her head against the trunk of the tree.

"It's not this. It's not fighting and beating people up to make a point."

"Maybe it's a point worth making."

"What if it's not?" she asked.

We were quiet a moment.

"Come on, Steve can give you a ride home," I said, hauling myself up to my feet.

"It's okay," she said. "I think I'll walk. Kathy's waiting for you over there anyway."

She pointed to the other end of the park, then stood up and brushed off her jeans. Part of me wanted to stop her, but the other part just didn't. It won out, and I watched her walk slowly across the grass to the northeast corner of the park. I went to find Kathy a few minutes later.

* * *

**A/N:** Last chapter is next. Any feedback up to this point is appreciated.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders.

**A/N:** Last chapter, folks. I'm whipping through posting them because I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month in November, and I want to spend time prepping for that.

* * *

XXXX

**Chapter 16**

_**Friday, May 20, 1966**_

I was in detention all of the last week of school because of that fight with Brubaker on school grounds. Mr. Casing's not a bad guy, but his idea of punishment is pretty funny. A battered Dave Brubaker was sharing detention with a good handful of greasers that'd seen his ass handed to him on a platter, and he wasn't too happy about it.

I, on the other hand, had never enjoyed detention so much. I was pretty close to getting detention for acting up in detention, but I made it through to Friday without consequence. I think Mr. Casing likes me underneath his threats to call the cops on me.

When I got out of detention late Friday afternoon, I found Franny leaning against my car. She looked really small, her hair blowing around her face. Her eyes were rimmed red, and I wondered if she'd gotten some kind of bad news or something.

Maybe she was just there to lay into me some more about whipping Brubaker. I was still confusd over it all. I couldn't think of a damn way to tell her it was just how things were, and it was all we had. Maybe she hadn't been stepped on enough to learn that fighting your way out of it was the only thing you could do to keep your sanity.

"Hey," I said to her, not too sure about the reception I was gonna get.

"Hey," she answered, smiling a little at me. There was wariness behind her smile now, and it made me sad.

"What's up?"

"Gerald's coming home," she said, her voice brightening a little. "We got to talk to him last night. He's doing okay … even without his leg. He didn't say much about it. They're flying him to the Navy hospital at Balboa, in San Diego. He'll be there by Monday."

"That's good news."

"Yeah, it is," she said, her smile kind of fading. "I'm going out there."

"I figured you would," I said, leaning back against the car next to her.

"No, Two-Bit," she said softly. "I'm going out there for good. We all are."

I turned to look at her, not sure she was telling the truth. But she was.

"I want to be close to him, and my mom's got a best friend that lives in San Diego and offered to put us up for awhile. We'll be closer to my dad too," she said. She was staring at a tree off in the distance, and I wondered if it was because she didn't want to look me in the eye. "We decided to go the other night and we've been packing up ever since. We leave tomorrow."

"So you're really leaving then," I said, not quite believing it. It was one thing for her to go out there and another for her whole family to pack up.

"I'm really leaving."

"Any part of that decision have to do with me?" I asked, a joking sound to my voice, but a serious question underneath it all.

She was quiet for a second. She looked over at me finally, and her eyes were watery.

"Two-Bit, I don't fit in here. I don't fit in your world, and I don't fit in the Soc's world, but it seems like they're the only ones available here," she sighed. "Maybe if I hadn't met you I would've found some middle ground, but now I don't fit into that world either. Not here anyway."

"You fit in just fine," I said, even though I knew I was lying through my teeth. She smiled at that, laughing a little. I guess it was true. She kind of lost what she was used to living here and there was no way she'd ever get it back.

"You know that isn't true. I think I proved it last weekend," she said softly. "I can't stand all these fights. Since you and Brubaker had your fight, it's heated everything up again. I've never seen so much fighting break out in school before. Everyone is just so vicious, and I don't understand it. Maybe summer break will give everyone a chance to cool off."

I wasn't so sure about that. We still didn't know who'd jumped Johnny, and it made me sick what they'd done to him. It was gonna be all out war with the Socs until we settled up for that. I think maybe she knew it, too.

"I did the right thing," I stated, looking her in the eye, daring her to contradict me. I dunno why the need to prove it was so strong, but it was.

"I know you think you did," she sighed. "Maybe you did, I don't know. All I know is this fighting is futile. It's not getting anyone anything. I figured you were smart enough to see that."

I was quiet for a second.

"Maybe I'm smart enough to see that if we figured out the futility of fighting, we wouldn't have much hope," I said gently. "And maybe hope's all we got."

She looked down at the ground and then over at me. Her cheeks were wet from the tears, but she wasn't exactly crying.

She leaned up and kissed me. I snaked my hand up behind her head and kissed her back, exploring her mouth and wondering for the hundredth time what would've happened if that cop hadn't shown up. If I hadn't noticed her crying. If we'd been on a real date instead of what it had been. If I hadn't just driven her back to my place, if I'd just done it with her at my house, if I'd given her what she'd thought she wanted that night.

"You regret it?" I asked her as we broke apart, knowing I'd go crazy if I never found out the answer.

"Regret what?"

"Up at the lake. You regret it?"

"Not the way you think I do," she said. She smiled very slowly at me and leaned up and kissed me again, pressing her body against mine. I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to me as tightly as I could.

I kissed her again, softly, and we broke apart.

"Maybe this woulda worked out better if I'd moved to Pasadena," I said with a grin, my forehead pressed against hers. She smiled back wanly.

"It probably would have," she said seriously. She leaned up and kissed me again. "Goodbye, Two-Bit."

"Bye, Franny."

And so she walked across the grass towards the sidewalk, her short skirt giving me too much to think about as she walked away. I looked down at the ground and felt a little lonely. I'd been crazy to think it ever could've worked out anyway.

"Two-Bit?" she called, turning back around. I lifted my head up to look at her.

"Thanks," she said.

"What for?" I asked her.

She smiled for a second before answering. "For crossing the parking lot."

I smiled back at her and she slowly turned away, the wind catching her blonde hair and turning it into a halo.

THE END

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**A/N:** Thanks to everyone that read, and a special thank you to everyone that took the time to review.

If you're interested reading and critiquing my re-write of my old story Triangle, PM me, as I'm thinking of posting it on a private journal to work through an overhaul of it. There's some plot changes that I'd need significant feedback on.


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